Unexpected
by hhwgv
Summary: On Sam's first day, he makes friends with Kevin Tran, the only openly gay kid in the entire school. Seeing Kevin's confidence in who he is makes Sam think about himself and his own identity. Usually, Sam doesn't try to have close friendships at his new schools because he knows that he won't be there long, but something about Kevin is different. Sam finds himself falling for Kevin i
1. Chapter 1

***Author's Note: I don't own anything from Supernatural. Sevin modern-day high school AU where Sam and Kevin are the same age.***

Growing up, Sam always hated being the new kid. You always got asked the same questions: where are you from, what does your dad do, how do you like it here… but he had been doing this his entire life, he was already used to it. He was starting at another new school, the third one this year. Thankfully, he wasn't starting mid-semester like he usually did. His first day would be the first day back from Christmas Holidays, so he hoped he wouldn't stand out quite as much.

Sam went to the office to pick up his schedule. The secretary was an older woman who hadn't quite figured out how computers worked, by the time she had managed to print it out, he was already late for first period. He thanked the woman before rushing out of the office and looking at his schedule. First period was English, room 208. It didn't take him long to find the classroom.

He knocked gently on the door. The teacher, who was his early forties, opened it, "I'm a new student. Sam Winchester," he told the man.

"Ah, yes. Come in," the teacher motioned. "I'm Mr. Friesen. Class, this is our new student, Sam Winchester. You can sit wherever you'd like." Sam sat in the first available desk, which was at the front corner of the classroom and, thankfully, right by the door. The first day was just an introduction to the class, what materials they'd be covering, what the class rules were, etc. Sam studied his schedule while Mr. Friesen went through the rules. He had English, then P.E./Health, Pre-Calculus math, Physics, and Chemistry. Thankfully, physics and chemistry were in the same room, so he didn't have to worry about being late for yet another class.

"Okay, now that I'm done talking and we still have half the class left, why don't we go around and say our name and one interesting thing that we did over winter break?" Mr. Friesen announced. "Sam, why don't we start with you?"

"Uh… my name is Sam Winchester, and over winter break I, uh…" _went hunting for creatures that most people think are myths_ "went on a road trip with my brother," Sam answered.

"Oh, and where did you go?" Mr. Friesen asked.

Sam hesitated, where didn't they go? With their dad gone for weeks at a time, he and Dean had gone all over; they just had to make sure they were at the place their dad had left them by the time he got back. They had gone to South Dakota to visit Uncle Bobby, to Los Angeles when their dad was on a hunt in Nevada, to Colorado so they could spend Christmas in the snow. "We went skiing in Colorado," Sam replied shortly.

The teacher moved on to the rest of the class. Sam tried not to pay attention, everyone's answer was the same. "I'm Debby and I spent time with my family," "I'm Chris and I went to my grandparents' house…" it was pretty much the same thing over and over. Some people talked about visiting tropical locations like Cuba and Hawaii, but Sam knew that he wouldn't be able to relate to these people. He could be friendly, but it was pointless to try and make friends, he'd just be leaving soon anyway. Since he was constantly switching schools, he just tried to learn as much in each class as he could, often working ahead in the curriculum so he wouldn't be missing anything on the final exam, at whichever school he ended up at. Dean and his dad didn't know, but Sam was planning on going to college. He needed to get out of the "family business" and live a normal life. He was tired of having to lie about what his dad does to people who don't deserve to be lied to.

Finally, the bell rang and Sam hurried out of the classroom, avoiding eye contact with everyone. His next class was gym, and while he wasn't athletic in the traditional sense, he hoped there would be less conversation than in the previous class. He didn't have gym clothes, and thankfully, most of his classmates didn't either. Everyone sat along the wall, waiting for the teacher to come in and tell them what they would be doing. The gym teacher introduced herself and droned on for a little while about motivation and how you "have to put in an effort" to do well in her class before saying that they'd be playing a friendly game of dodge ball to start the year off. She split the class into two teams and lined the balls up along the center line.

Sam could handle dodge ball. Although he looked awkward and uncoordinated, no thanks to a recent growth spurt, looks were deceiving. Yes, his limbs looked like they were too long for his body, and yes, he was tall and gangly, but he was constantly dodging the objects Dean threw at him to help "keep his reflexes sharp."

The teacher blew the whistle and the students barreled towards the balls in the center of the gym. Sam made it look like he was going for them, but he let the boy directly across from him get them. The boy sneered at Sam, and Sam knew that the boy thought he was an easy target. The teacher blew the whistle again to signal the start of play and the boy whipped the ball as hard as he could, aiming directly for Sam. Sam casually stepped out of the way of the ball. He could have easily caught it, but he wanted to make the boy angry. Every time the boy caught a ball, he would aim for Sam, who would step out of the way like it was nothing. He laughed as his opponent's face reddened. Sam could see the frustration growing as he dodged ball after ball. Finally, Sam decided to end it. The next ball the boy threw, Sam caught with one hand.

When the other boy realized he was out, he motioned to a few of his buddies that were on the same team, undoubtedly telling them to get Sam out. This was the first ball Sam had in his hand all day, and as a ball came sailing his way, he sidestepped it with ease and threw the ball in his hand at the person who tried to get him, hitting him square in the chest. It didn't take long before Sam was the only player left on his side, while they were still five players (all of which looked like jocks) on the other team. Most of the balls were sitting along the back wall of Sam's side; only two of the players on the opposite team had a ball. The two players with balls in their hands looked at each other, and counted to three, planning to throw the balls at the same time, so Sam would be hit by one of them. One was coming at Sam from his right, the other from his left. Unfortunately, they weren't so good at timing, because the one on Sam's left came in much earlier than the one on his right. He caught both of the balls with ease, chuckling to himself at the looks of surprise on the other teams' faces. He didn't hold onto the balls for very long before he aimed them at two of the remaining three, hitting one in the leg, and the other on the back.

Now it was down to one. Sam's opponent picked up the balls Sam had used to take out the other two and stared Sam down, like he was challenging him. He knew the boy wouldn't throw until Sam was "armed" so he picked up two balls and stood facing his rival. Sam stood and waited, not moving. Finally, the other boy threw both balls in his hands, one after the other, at Sam. Without dropping the balls he was holding, Sam caught one after the other in the crook of his arms. The boy dropped to his knees on the other side in a display that Sam thought was overly dramatic- it's only dodge ball, after all. The students that were on his team cheered as the balls were set up for another round. Sam knew that this time, everyone on the opposing team would be gunning for him.

The bell rang halfway through the second game, to Sam's relief. It's not that he was worried about being out, he just didn't want to draw that much attention to himself. His competitive side had come out, especially with his new classmates staring him down the way they had.

Sam's math class was in room 304, which was on the second floor of the building. He hurried there, hoping to get a seat in the back of the class. Sam was one of the first people there, so he tucked himself into a desk in the back corner of the classroom. He was desperately hoping this teacher wouldn't make everyone introduce themselves. Sam watched as the other students filed into the classroom. Based on the looks he'd gotten in his previous classes, he could tell that these kids were the kind that had been together since Kindergarten.

The math teacher was a tall, bald man with bright blue glasses. As soon as the bell signalling the start of class, he passed around the class outline. "Hello, class. Here is an outline of the topics we'll be covering this semester. Today we're going to go through the classroom rules and what we'll be studying, and then we'll be playing a game or two to get to know each other. Questions?" The teacher, Mr. McKay, announced as he walked toward the front of the class.

Sam groaned inwardly. Why did every teacher feel the need to make their class "get to know" each other? And why did every teacher have to go through class rules? Every class had the same set of rules, the only one that was different was whether or not you could eat in class. The rest were always the same: no cell phones, no talking, no disruptions. Sam wondered what kind of "game" the teacher wanted to play to get to know the students.

"Okay… so now that we're finished with all of the boring, mandatory stuff, let's get to the fun part. We're going to go around and you're going to say your names and three facts about yourself. Two will be the truth, one will be a lie, and the class as a whole has to guess the lie," Mr. McKay explained. Sam hoped that he would start on the other side of the classroom and that they wouldn't have enough time to get to him. "Let's start with… this row." He pointed to the row Sam was sitting in. Sam had no idea what he was going to say, most of the "truths" that he could think of would sound like a lie to everyone else.

"Uhh… I'm… uh, I'm Kevin Tran," the boy sitting in the first desk muttered shyly. "Uh… I have a cat named Moo. My favourite flavour of ice cream is chocolate. Uhm, I've never tried coffee."

"Okay… which one do you think is the lie?" Mr. McKay asked the class. The majority of the class guessed that number three was the lie. Internally, Sam disagreed. He didn't say anything, but he guessed that number two was the lie. "So, are they right? Is number three the lie?"

Kevin shook his head and smiled. "No… the lie was actually number two." Sam nodded slightly. He was right. They went through the three other students sitting in front of Sam, and finally, it was Sam's turn. He still wasn't quite sure what he was going to say.

"Alright," Sam started, "I'm Sam Winchester. I've never been out of the country. I love dogs. And I have lived in six different places in the past eight months." Of the few students that had gone, none of them had told the lie first. Sam had been out of the country, even if it was just Canada, it still counted. Just as Sam suspected, everyone guessed that the third statement was a lie, and Sam could see the astonishment on their faces when they found out.

Sam didn't really pay attention to the rest of the class. He was just hoping it would be lunch soon. He liked school, and he really liked learning new things, but the first day of a new semester was always just rules and class outlines and these stupid "get to know each other" games. He wanted to start the real learning. When the lunch bell finally rang, Sam tried to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible, but he was stuck awkwardly shuffling behind the other students.

He sat at the end of one of the tables in the cafeteria, listening to music loudly enough to drown out all of the background noise. After he finished his lunch, he decided to walk around and explore the school. He eventually sat down in the gym with a bunch of other students and watched the ongoing volleyball game. Sam hated when they stayed in these tiny hick-towns, which unfortunately, was almost every town they moved to.

About five minutes before the bell for fourth period rang, Sam headed down to the basement and took a seat in the physics classroom. As usual, he took a seat in the back corner. "Hey, uh, is anyone sitting here?" a timid voice asked. Sam looked up to see Kevin Tran, the boy from his math class.

"Oh, no, go ahead," Sam answered. The boy mumbled his thanks as he sat down. "You're Kevin, right? I think you're in my math class."

"Uh... yeah. Sam, isn't it?" Kevin responded while he took out his binder and started laying out his pens. When he noticed Sam watching him, he blushed. "Sorry, I'm just… particular about certain things."

"No, don't apologize. I'm the same way," Sam motioned to his notebook and the pens he had lined up beside it. Kevin smiled and seemed to relax a bit. He was short with black hair and dark eyes. Next to him, Sam felt like a giant.

"So, how are you liking it here so far?" Kevin asked. Sam looked at the smaller boy. Most people only asked to be polite, they never _actually _cared about the answer, but Kevin seemed genuinely curious.

"It's okay," Sam replied. "It's pretty much the same as all of the other small towns I've lived in. Kids who have known each other since kindergarten, over-confident jocks who think that they're gods, teachers who want to 'get to know' their students…" He looked over at Kevin and saw that he was staring at his hands. "Sorry… I've just lived in a lot of towns just like this one." Sam offered as an explanation. To his relief, the teacher walked in at that exact moment.

"I'm Mr. Stoesz," the teacher announced while he dropped his binder onto his desk. "I'm betting that this entire day has just been class after class of rules and getting to know each other, so I have good news, I'm not going to ask you to introduce yourselves." By the reactions of his classmates, Sam could tell he wasn't the only person who hated those stupid "get to know each other" things that teachers always seemed to do. "Instead, you're going to introduce the person beside you. Yup, that's right. We're going to go through the rules and all of that wonderful stuff, then you're going to have some time to talk to your desk mate and you're going to introduce them to the rest of the class."

Sam just wanted this day to be over already. He didn't like talking about himself, he'd much rather learn about physics than talk about himself. However, he was interested in learning more about Kevin. He pretended to follow along as the teacher went through what he needed to go through. "Okay, so I'm going to give you ten minutes to talk to your partner, and after that you're both going to stand up and give the class your partner's name, why they chose to take physics, and what their favourite dessert is. Alright, go."

"So…" Sam turned to Kevin. "Why'd you choose to take physics?" He was genuinely interested in the answer. If he was going to make a friend in this school, Kevin seemed like the best choice, especially compared to the other students he'd met.

"I… uh, I took physics because I want to learn more about the things we don't think about… if that makes sense…" Sam nodded and Kevin continued. "You never think about gravity when something's falling. I mean, you know it's there, but you just think '_Oh my god, that's falling,'_ not '_gravity is pulling that object back towards Earth_' and I think it's important to know about the things around us and why the world works the way it does… so, uh. What about you?"

"I am taking physics because" _it might come in handy if I stay in the 'family business' and become a hunter_ "I don't want to be satisfied with knowing that things are happening, I want to know _why _they're happening," Sam answered. "What was the other question? Favourite dessert?"

"Yeah. Mine's pretty boring and generic, but I love chocolate chip cookies," Kevin laughed. "Yours?"

"Uh, I don't even know… I don't eat much dessert. Does fruit count as a dessert?" The harder Sam tried to think about it, the harder it was to come up with a dessert. The teacher announced that there was only a minute left. "I seriously can't think of a dessert. I guess I'd go with blueberry muffins? Sure, blueberry muffins." Kevin was still laughing and staring at Sam incredulously. He couldn't believe that it would take that much effort for someone to know what dessert was their favourite.

The whole class went through their answers and right after Sam and Kevin had introduced each other, the bell rang to signal the end of class. "Wow, perfect timing," the teacher remarked. "I'll see you all tomorrow," he said as the students filed out of class. Sam just sat down and waited for chemistry to start.

"Do you have chemistry next, too?" Kevin asked as Sat down.

"Yeah," Sam chuckled. "One less classroom for me to try to find. You too?"

"Yup… is it okay if I sit here for chem?" Kevin looked away shyly. Sam looked over at Kevin and wondered if he had many friends. In math, Kevin had acted the same way Sam did, he didn't look at anyone or even try to talk to them.

"Definitely! I'd rather sit next to you than some kid who forgets to wear deodorant," Sam joked, trying to lighten the mood. Kevin smiled and just as he was about to respond, a few of the boys who had been in Sam's gym class walked in, including the guy who was way too dramatic about dodge ball and the guy who had originally challenged Sam.

"Hey, Katie. Make the new kind your boyfriend, eh?" one of them practically yelled.

"Yeah, watch out, new kid!" Another chimed in, "He might turn you homo!" The other boys laughed and high-fived, like the kid had come up with a remarkable retort.

Sam glanced at Kevin, who looked like he was trying to hold back tears. "Hey!" Sam interrupted their laughter, "What's your problem?"

"Are you talking to us?" The largest of the four asked. He seemed like he would be the leader in a pack of apes. "We don't have a problem. It's your pal, Katie over here that has the problem. He's an abomination. And he's always staring at my ass, aren't you homo?"

Sam shook his head. Guys like this were one of the reasons he hated small towns. They were usually full of ignorant people who were brainwashed by whatever version of the Bible their parents read them when they were kids. He stood up and faced the group of boys, "I think you are the ones with the problem. Especially based on what I saw in gym class this morning, all four of you lack any kind of hand-eye coordination. Kevin," he placed his hand on the smaller boys hunched shoulders, "is not an abomination. I don't know if he is gay and frankly, it's not my business. If he chooses to tell me, that's his choice, but that won't change the fact that he is a smart, kind person who deserves to be treated with respect." Sam turned to sit down, but before he did he turned back to the leader, "and let's be real for a minute, buddy. The only reason _**anybody **_stares at you is to ask themselves how it's possible that someone can be made entirely out of an asshole."

The boys glared at Sam and Kevin, obviously flustered and trying to come up with a good response. Finally one of them spoke, "Well… er, have fun being butt buddies, then." Sam rolled his eyes. He had no patience for guys like that and just ignored them until they finally took a seat at the far end of the classroom.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, his hand still on Kevin's shoulder. Kevin looked up, his eyes meeting Sam's. Sam could see that there were tears lining the edge of the smaller boy's eyes. He nodded, blinking back the tears.

"Yeah," Kevin croaked. "No one's ever stood up for me like that. That was really cool. Thanks, Sam." He cleared his throat. "Now that it's out there, you might as well know for sure, I am gay. The only gay kid in this town, apparently."

Sam smiled. "Thanks for telling me, but you didn't have to. Like I said, you being gay or not being gay has no effect on whether I like you or not. I'm serious. From what I've seen so far, you're one of the coolest guys in this town," Sam was serious, and he wanted Kevin to know that. Although they hadn't talked all that much, he knew that the two of them would be good friends. "So, what kind of movies do you like?" Sam changed the subject, hoping to lighten the mood a little bit.

"I'm not particular, I like almost every kind of movie. I'm a big fan of superhero movies, though. Especially Captain America. What about you?"

"I usually just watch whatever my brother watches, so mostly bad comedies and western movies. I don't think I've ever seen Captain America. The only superhero movies my brother ever watches is Batman," Sam laughed. "I'm kind of behind on movies."

Mr. Stoesz was the chemistry teacher, as well. The bell rang and he took his place in front of the classroom. He handed out the class outlines and started to go over it. Not surprisingly, they would be introducing the person beside them after they went over the rules. While Mr. Stoesz was talking, Sam couldn't stop thinking about Kevin and the kids that bullied him. Kevin was so sure of who he was and what he wanted, that he wasn't going to pretend to be someone different so that he would fit in, and Sam admired that about him. Sam had never even considered his sexuality, and now he was wondering if he was actually straight. He'd had a few girlfriends in the past, but they were usually a result of pressure from Dean. Dean was always bragging about all the girls he got, and made fun of Sam for not trying harder.

Before Sam knew it, Mr. Stoesz was giving the class time to talk to their partners. Like last class, he wanted the students to say their partner's name, why they decided to take chemistry, and their favourite cereal.

Sam found out that Kevin's favourite cereal was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which made Sam feel like a middle-aged mother when he said that his favourite was Honey Bunches of Oats. When the rest of the class was introducing their partners, he also learned the names of the guys from his gym class that picked on Kevin. The head ape was Bryce, and his followers were Dave, Mike, and Ryan. When the final bell rang, Sam couldn't wait to get back to the motel. He shoved all of his stuff into his backpack and said goodbye to Kevin before rushing out of the building.

"Dean?" Sam called when he got back to the motel room. He looked around, but Dean wasn't there. He saw a note on the table. _Sammy. I'm working late at the bar tonight. Here's $20 for supper. _Sam threw his backpack on his bed and lay down. He grabbed the remote off the side table and turned on the tv. He flicked through the grainy channels, trying to find one that was playing something decent. He settled on a channel that was playing music videos and opened his laptop. He found himself unable to actually focus on anything, his mind kept wandering back to Kevin and the fact that Sam had never actually thought about sexuality. It was something Sam never even thought about.

Sam felt his stomach growl and decided to go to get supper. There weren't many restaurants in this town, and he didn't want to sit somewhere for a long time, so he decided to go to McDonald's. It was close by and the only fast food place. He took the twenty off the table and headed out the door.

When he got to the restaurant, he tried to order something that wouldn't give him a heart attack before he turned 30. This was possibly the slowest McDonald's Sam had ever been to. It seemed like there were no adults working there, it was all high school kids. When he finally got his order, he sat down at the table by the window.

"Oh, hey, Sam," Kevin stopped as he was walking by. Sam looked up and saw Kevin wearing a McDonald's uniform.

"Hey, Kevin, I didn't know you worked here. How long have you worked here?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Kevin laughed. "I've been working here for about two years now, which is why they made me a manager." He pointed at his nametag. It read: _Team Leader, Kevin T._

"Oh nice, so you get to boss everyone else around?" Sam joked.

"Yeah, I do. It's pretty nice. So what are you up to this evening?"

"Uh, nothing," Sam took a sip of his drink. "There's really not much to do in this town. What about you? Are you stuck at work all evening?"

"No, actually. I'm off in…" Kevin looked at his watch, "fifteen minutes. Since you're not doing anything, do you want to come over to my house and watch a movie or play video games or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Sam answered. "Maybe we can watch Captain America and you can help me get up to date with popular movies." He chuckled.

"Awesome," Kevin replied. "Did you walk here? I have my car, so I can drive you to my house if you want."

"Cool," Sam grinned. "Yeah, I walked."

"Okay, super," Kevin said. "I'll come out here when I'm off." He smiled at Sam as he turned to go back to the kitchen area.

"Yeah, see you in a bit," Sam mumbled. He played around on his phone while he was waiting for Kevin to get off work. In the four towns they'd lived in prior to this one, he hadn't even bothered trying to make any friends. He was used to bouncing from town to town, never staying in one place for more than a couple months. His dad had told them before he left for his trip that this would be one of the long stays. Maybe it was Sam being optimistic, but for the first time he felt like he might get the chance to stay in one place for an entire semester. Part of him knew that he was being insane, his dad would never let them stay in one place for five months. The only time he'd ever been in one place for that long since his mom died was when his dad left him at Uncle Bobby's, and that was before he was school age. Now here he was, a junior in high school, and somehow, a part of him held on to the hope that he could have a normal life. He kept hoping that his dad would finally kill the thing that killed their mother and they could stop moving all the time.

Sam was wrapped up in thoughts about his father when Kevin came back around the corner, this time in his normal clothes. Every time Sam thought about his dad and the "family business" he could feel himself getting angry. He didn't know how Dean could just accept everything their dad said. His older brother seemed to just go along and accept everything that their dad threw at them. "Hey, Sam. Ready to go?" Kevin interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah," Sam snapped out of his haze. He got up and followed Kevin out to his car. On the way to Kevin's house, they talked about their classes and teachers. There was something about Kevin that made Sam feel like he could really be himself. He felt like he could tell the smaller boy about everything, including the "family business" and he'd understand. Well, maybe not understand exactly, but he wouldn't just laugh and say that Sam was hallucinating. Other than Dean, Sam had never found it this easy to talk to someone before. He had more issues talking to his dad than he did talking to Kevin. Even though this town was incredibly boring, Sam wanted to stay here.


	2. Chapter 2

As many times as Kevin had insisted on giving him a ride, Sam had elected to walk back to the motel. After watching Captain America, Kevin had convinced Sam that he had to watch more Marvel movies and lent him some of his favourites, like the Iron Man movies and Thor. It was pretty chilly with the sun down, but it didn't take long to walk anywhere in this town.

It was past midnight when Sam got back to the room. He knew that he should go to bed so he wouldn't be exhausted at school the next morning, but he really needed to talk to Dean, who was at work until one, so Sam returned to flipping through the channels on the tv. He had just started to doze off when his older brother walked in. "Hey, Sammy, thought you'd be asleep," Dean said as he kicked off his shoes.

"No, I was waiting for you to get back. I have something I need to talk to you about," Sam replied timidly. Dean nodded for him to continue. "How do you know that you're straight?" he asked. "Like, how can you be sure?"

"Why, did you meet a girl? Or did you meet a guy?" Sam could tell that Dean was mocking him.

"C'mon, Dean, this is serious," Sam whined. "Never mind, I shouldn't have asked." He crawled under the covers and turned to face away from his brother. He should have known that Dean would just make fun of him.

"Sammy, I was kidding! I'll be serious now, what's going on?" When Sam didn't respond, Dean went and sat on the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry, talk to me about it."

Sam sat up and faced Dean. "Well… it's one of my new classmates… he's so sure about who he is and he doesn't hide it because the other kids make fun of him. He's the only kid in this town who is openly gay, and I just don't understand how he can be so sure that he's gay. So how do you know? You're so sure that you like girls, but how? How do you know? And… I… I don't know. Sexuality is weird… because I want to be intimate with someone and date and everything, but I'm not interested in having sex with anyone. I know sex is an important part of a relationship, but I just don't want it."

"Woah, woah, slow down. You don't have to have everything figured out," Dean responded. "And there's more than just gay and straight…"

"Yeah, I know there's bisexuality, too," Sam interrupted. "But…"

"There are more than just three sexualities, Sam. There's asexuality, pansexuality, and people everywhere along the spectrum. There aren't any boxes, you don't have to force yourself into one of them… You know that right?"Dean said gently.

"Wait, there are other people who don't have an interest in sex? Asexuality is a thing?" Sam asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yeah, definitely. And just because someone is asexual, that doesn't mean they can't be in romantic relationships… and you can have preferences with romantic relationships, just like sexual relationships…" Dean explained. "There are people who are aromantic but not asexual, and there are people who are asexual who do have romantic orientations and desires…"

"How do you know about all this? And what was it that you said before, pansexual?" Sam was still a little bit confused. He'd always thought that sexuality was black and white, you were either gay or you weren't.

"Well, when I was your age I was curious, too," Dean answered. "When someone is pansexual or panromantic, it basically means that someone doesn't care about gender or whatever, if they fall in love with the person, they fall in love with them. I actually, I have something to admit to you, Sammy. I'm not straight… I know that I talk about girls all the time and it may seem like I am, but a few years ago, I realized that I identify as bisexual..."

"And you talk about girls so Dad won't suspect anything?" Sam had always thought of his brother as this straight stud, and learning that he wasn't came as a shock to him. "Dean, I think I'm asexual… and maybe panromantic?"

"Yeah… Dad would kill me if I told him, so I try to hide it, especially if he's around. I should have told you earlier, Sammy. I'm sorry. And don't worry about trying to figure out all the labels, just take it one day at a time. If things happen, they happen," Dean smiled. "So what's his name? This classmate of yours?"

"Uh… Kevin," Sam blushed. "We, uh, we actually hung out this evening. I went to McDonald's for supper and he was working there and we went to his house afterwards."

"That's great! Just don't let him pressure you, and if you do end up fooling around, make sure you're safe," Dean gently slapped Sam's leg and stood up.

"Nothing happened, Dean. He doesn't even like me like that. Just because he's gay and I probably have a crush on him, that doesn't mean he likes me back," Sam mumbled.

"Well, he'd be crazy not to. But you'd better get to sleep, you have school in the morning," Dean crawled into bed. "Goodnight, Sammy," he said before he turned off the lights.

Before Sam knew it, the alarm on his phone went off. Reluctantly, he rolled out of bed and dragged himself into the bathroom to shower before school. He couldn't stop thinking about the conversation he'd had with Dean last night. It felt good to be open about stuff with his brother, and he was happy that Dean had opened up to him. Now maybe Dean wouldn't talk about girls all the time, maybe they'd be able to talk about other things.

On the way to school, Sam stopped at a grocery store and bought a banana for breakfast. Today, he didn't want to be late for first period. He would have been on time yesterday too, if it hadn't been for the secretary that didn't know how to work a computer. When he got onto the school yard, he saw Kevin getting out of his car. "Hey! Kevin!" He called and waved. Kevin smiled and waved back.

"Hey, Sam," Kevin grinned as they got closer. "How are you?"

"Tired," Sam sighed. "I just hope that classes are more interesting today."

Kevin laughed, "Yeah, the first day of class is always pretty boring. The second isn't much better. I have class upstairs, I'll see you in math!"

"Okay, see you," Sam replied as he watched Kevin run up the stairs. The bell was going to ring soon, so he hurried to his English classroom. He sat down and took out his notebook, hoping they would actually do something today. The class seemed to drag on and on, the teacher spent the entire time introducing the first unit. Based on this class, Sam knew that Kevin was right: the second day would be almost as boring as the first.

The next class went by almost as slowly as the first. Gym and health were alternating, so they had to go through all of the rules that every other class went through the day before. When the class was finally over, Sam rushed to the math classroom. He took his seat and when Kevin walked in, he motioned for him to sit next to him.

The rest of the day was enjoyable, mostly because Kevin was in all of his classes. With every moment they spent together, Sam was sure that what he was feeling for Kevin was more than just friendly. After a few weeks had gone by, he knew that he had to tell Kevin, even if he wasn't going to be in this town much longer. He was tired of hiding it, and it felt like he was lying to Kevin by _not _telling him. He wasn't sure that the smaller boy would reciprocate the feelings, but he had to tell him anyway.

"Hey, Kevin," Sam started as they were driving home from watching a movie in a nearby town, "I have something to say, and you have to promise not to say anything until I'm done, okay?"

"Okay… what is it?" Kevin asked, glancing at Sam while still trying to pay attention to the road.

Sam let out a deep breath before beginning, "I don't want to make things weird between us, but I need to tell you this… Before I met you, I never really thought about sexuality. It never really mattered to me, and seeing you be so unapologetic about who you are, even though people made fun of you… it was really inspiring to me. It made me think about myself. I've always felt like I was… different than most people, but I didn't know what it was exactly… I spent so much time feeling weird, or like I was broken because I don't want to have sex with anyone but I do want to be in a romantic relationship… you know, with cuddling and all that kind of stuff, and I can see myself in that kind of relationship with a guy _or _a girl…" He paused to look at Kevin's face.

"Sam… if you…" was all Kevin got out before Sam interrupted him.

"Wait, I'm not finished." Kevin nodded and Sam continued, "I know it's probably pointless to tell you this, I probably won't be in this town much longer, but I really like you. As more than just a friend. I know you don't feel the same way, but I really needed to tell you because I can't hide it anymore. If this makes you want to stop hanging out with me, I understand."

Kevin was quiet for a moment, making sure that Sam was actually finished this time. "Sam, if you really think I would want to stop being around you because you like me, you must be crazy. I've had a crush on you from the moment I saw you sitting in the corner of our first math class… I just assumed you were straight and I didn't want _you _to be uncomfortable…" He paused. "And if you're willing, I'd like nothing more than to be in a romantic relationship with you."

"I… I can't. You mean too much to me, and I don't want to hurt you. My dad will come back from his business trip in a few weeks and we'll have to move again and I can't put you through that," Sam said, looking down at his hands. He would love to have the chance to be with Kevin, but it would only be for a few weeks, and the thought of that hurt him too much. If he let himself be more than friends with Kevin, leaving would be too hard. It was already going to be hard enough.

"Sam, I don't care how long or how short we get to be together, as long as we do. I just want to be with you. As more than just friends. And now that I know the truth, that I could possibly be with you like that, I… I won't be able to think about anything but being close to you. We'll find a way to make it work, even after you leave," Kevin replied. "It's worth a try, you never know what will happen, or what will come of it."

"I just really don't want to hurt you…" was all Sam had to say. He _wanted _to be in a relationship with Kevin, he _wanted _to be close with him. He was scared of what his dad would do and what his dad would say when he found out. Sam was tired of his dad controlling his life.

"It's going to hurt both of us either way, so we might as well get the most out of it," Kevin responded. "And I have an idea for one of our future dates… Next Friday there's a concert nearby, well, I say nearby but it's only about 45 minutes away, so nearby for this town, and I have two tickets… would you be interested in going? As more than friends, I mean. Maybe for our first date we could go to dinner and go bowling or to a movie or something. I'm free this Friday."

Sam hesitated, "Yeah, yeah… I'd like that. Both the concert and the first date." he smiled and Kevin grinned back at him. Kevin reached out and squeezed the larger boy's hand as he pulled up to the motel that Sam and Dean were staying at. "Okay… I'll, uh, I'll see you tomorrow," Sam nervously leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on Kevin's cheek before getting out of the car.

When Sam walked into the hotel room, Dean was sitting on his bed watching one of the many crime dramas on the static-y screen of the hotel's tv. "Hey, Sammy. What's with the goofy smile?" Dean asked when he looked up. "Movie that good?"

"Wha… oh, uh, no…" Sam stuttered. "I… I told Kevin that have a crush on him and he likes me back…" he was still getting used to talking to his brother about this kind of stuff.

"See? I told you he'd be crazy not to like you," Dean beamed. "So… are you… dating now, or...?"

"Uh… yeah. We are… our first date is going to be on Friday. We're going to dinner," Sam blushed. "And next week we're going to a concert."

"Awe, my baby brother Sammy is in his first real relationship… So cute," Dean teased, pinching Sam's cheek on his way to the bathroom.

"I've been in relationships before, remember Dana, and Emily," Sam protested.

"Maybe so, but you like Kevin a lot more than anyone else you've had a crush on, and don't even try to deny it," Dean replied before he shut the bathroom door.

Dean was right. Sam couldn't deny that he had never liked someone as much as he liked Kevin, and he felt the connection between the two of them instantly. Now, knowing that Kevin felt the same way he did, Sam really didn't want to leave. He wished that his dad would let them settle down. It had been years since their mom died, and they were no closer to finding the thing that killed her. For now, Sam was going to focus on the positives, and hope that he had more than just a few weeks with Kevin. Sam got ready to go to sleep and crawled into his bed. When Dean was finished in the bathroom, he lay down and turned off the lights, "G'night, Dean," Sam mumbled before he fell asleep.

The next day at school, Sam and Kevin were a bit shy around each other. When their hands accidentally brushed in math class, Sam started to apologize, stumbling over his words in embarrassment. Kevin giggled and squeezed Sam's hand, just like he had in the car the night before, and it immediately put Sam at ease.

Classes on Thursday and Friday went by quicker than Sam expected. The closer it got to their date, the more nervous Sam felt. Kevin was coming to pick him up at 5:30, and they were driving to the next town over to go to a restaurant that had food that _wasn't _fried. Sam jumped to answer the door when Kevin knocked.

On the drive to the restaurant, they turned on the car radio. The only station that worked properly played mostly pop music, but they sang along at the top of their lungs, usually off key, bursting out into laughter whenever one of them managed to make a weird squeaky sound. It was usually Sam who laughed first, when he heard himself get off key, he would intentionally make himself sound bad so Kevin wouldn't know how awful he actually was at singing.

They got to the restaurant and the hostess lead them to a booth. "I don't know what to order," Sam told Kevin after the waitress had left. He was used to going to small burger joints with his brother, not restaurants with different varieties of food.

Kevin laughed. "Well, what are you in the mood for?" He asked.

"I don't know," Sam answered. "Uh… maybe just a salad."

"Okay, well, what kind of salad? There's more than just one," Kevin smirked.

Sam looked over the salad section of the menu, "uh… the Thai Chicken Salad sounds good. What are you ordering?"

"The Mushroom and Swiss burger… my mom doesn't like burgers or fries, so we never have it at my house," Kevin explained.

The waitress came to the table to take their order. "Hi, what can I get for you?" She chirped, a fake smile plastered on her face.

Kevin ordered for both of them and handed the waitress the menus. He grinned at Sam across the table and Sam smiled back shyly. "I'm so glad we're doing this," Kevin murmured as he reached out and gently grabbed Sam's hand.

"Me too," Sam beamed. "But I'm afraid we won't get to be together. My dad will probably…"

"Shh…" Kevin interrupted. "Don't focus on that. Let's focus on the positive, let's focus on _us_, right now."

"I know, but…"

"No buts, Sam. If we only have a few weeks, I don't want to spend them thinking about when you leave. I'd rather spend them listening to your laugh and memorizing the crinkles around your eyes when you smile. I want the colour of your eyes to be permanently engrained in my memory. I want to remember what it feels like to be close to you and feel your warmth so I can look back on cold nights when I'm alone and remember what it was like to have you there. I want to make you happy," Kevin blushed.

"Okay," Sam mumbled, a bashful smile on his face. "I'd like that."

"Good… good," Kevin responded.

Their conversation was interrupted when the waitress came back with their order. Both boys started on their food right away, making small talk while they ate. "Do you want to order dessert?" Kevin asked once they had both finished their meals.

"I'm actually kind of full right now," Sam answered.

"I'm full too, I just thought I'd offer," Kevin responded. "So, should we get out of here?" Sam nodded, so when their waitress came back to clear the dishes he asked to get the check. Kevin insisted that he was going to pay for the entire meal, no matter how many times Sam offered to pay for his half.

"I've only gone bowling once before," Sam admitted when they got to the bowling alley. "So if you beat me, that's why."

"Oh, sure," Kevin joked. "You're just scared I'm going to beat you… which I totally am."

"Alright, Shorty. It's on," Sam smirked. "There's no way I'm letting you win."

"Don't kid yourself, Gigantor," Kevin laughed and poked Sam in the arm. "I'm gonna kick your butt."

Sam wasn't as bad as he thought he would be, but he wasn't as good as Kevin. He threw a lot of gutter balls in the first game and Kevin made fun of him, saying that they should put the bumpers up so he couldn't throw it into the gutter. "I'm just getting warmed up," Sam retorted. He only totalled 54 points the whole game, which was less than half of Kevin's 115.

"Okay, well now that you're warmed up, let's see how you do in the second round," Kevin teased.

"Be prepared to be crushed," Sam laughed.

Sam did much better in the second round, he quickly pulled ahead of Kevin. Kevin snickered as he crept up behind Sam. Kevin poked Sam in the side right as he was about to throw the ball. "Hey, that's not fair!" Sam shouted as his ball rolled down the gutter. "You can't do that! I could've gotten a strike!"

"Oh, you weren't going to get a strike," Kevin smirked and poked Sam's side again.

"You've gotta stop that," Sam giggled. Kevin tried to poke Sam again, but Sam grabbed his hand before he could. "Not this time!"

Kevin chuckled and tried to poke Sam's side with his free hand. Sam laughed as he intercepted Kevin's other hand. "No!" Sam cried, pulling the smaller boy closer to his chest. He looked down at Kevin's smiling face, his dark eyes sparkling in the dim lighting. Sam leaned down towards Kevin and pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss. "I think it's your turn to bowl," Sam mumbled while their foreheads were resting against each other.

"Yeah, yeah, I think it is," Kevin whispered before going up on his tiptoes to give Sam another kiss. He smiled as he pulled away and turned to pick up his ball. Right before Kevin threw the ball, Sam returned the favour and tickled Kevin's side.

"Now it's fair," Sam chimed. The final score of the game was a lot closer than the other, 99-105 for Kevin. He was adamant about paying for the bowling as well, and no matter how much Sam offered, Kevin refused.

"It's still pretty early… and I don't feel like ending this now… so do you want to catch a movie?" Kevin suggested.

"Sure, but _only _if you let me pay," Sam responded.

"Oh, I guess," Kevin said.

They chose to watch a comedy that Kevin's cousin had thought was funny. When they took their seats, Sam instinctively rested his arm on the back of Kevin's chair. "Putting the moves on me early, I see," Kevin teased and Sam blushed.

"It's a habit," Sam protested. Kevin just laughed and raised his eyebrows. Sam started to move his arm when Kevin stopped him.

"I never said I didn't like it," Kevin smiled.

About halfway through the movie, Sam felt Kevin's head on his shoulder. He looked down at the smaller boy, trying not to move his shoulder. He spent more time watching Kevin drift off to sleep than watching the movie. Sam grinned to himself as he let his arm fall off the back of the chair and rested his hand on Kevin's side. He could feel Kevin's side moving as he breathed and Sam found himself breathing in the same rhythm.

Sam didn't want the movie to end, but when it did, he was happy that they had chosen seats in the middle of the row so no one would try to shuffle past them to get out. He didn't wake Kevin until after the credits had finished rolling. Kevin sat up and rubbed his eyes, blinking to adjust to the dimly lit room.

"Do you want dessert now?" Kevin yawned. "I could go for some ice cream."

Sam agreed, so they went to the nearest restaurant that had ice cream. Kevin got double fudge cookie dough, while Sam opted for strawberry cheesecake. Sam didn't know what he had been so nervous about before the date. He knew that Kevin liked him, and they had hung out before, so he felt a bit silly thinking about how anxious he had been.

Sam smiled as he watched Kevin eating his ice cream. While he had agreed not to talk about the short amount of time they had, Sam couldn't stop thinking about it. He wanted more time, but since he knew he wouldn't get very long, he wanted to remember everything, like the way Kevin always flipped his spoon upside down when he ate ice cream and the way that his laugh filled a room.

They finished their ice cream and drove home. They talked about the movie they'd watched and wondered why Kevin's cousin had recommended it. They talked about the Marvel movies Sam had watched and which superhero they'd want to be. Kevin wanted to be Spiderman and be able to shoot webs. Sam had never really thought about it, but he said he'd like to be Captain America. Kevin asked why, and he had to think about it for a while. "I think," he replied, "That the feature I'd want most would be Steve's sense of morality. He does what's right because it's right, and he's willing to sacrifice himself to save people's lives and I think that's how we should all aspire to be."

"I can see you as Captain America," Kevin responded. "Red, white, and blue spandex."

"Spiderman's suit is so much tighter than Steve's," Sam retorted. "And you'd have to suffocate under that mask."

"Yeah, maybe I wouldn't want the costume, but it sure would be fun to swing from buildings. It'd be faster than walking, that's for sure," Kevin explained.

When they got to the hotel, Kevin walked Sam to his door. They stood there awkwardly until Sam leaned down to give Kevin a kiss. When they pulled away, their eyes met for a moment before Kevin wrapped his arm around Sam's neck and pulled him into a more passionate kiss, entangling his fingers in the taller boy's hair.

"Okay, goodnight," Kevin mumbled when they pulled away again.

"Yeah, 'night," Sam smiled. He pressed a quick, chaste kiss on Kevin's lips and went inside, practically running into Dean as he did.

"Uhh… Hiya Sammy," Dean grinned sheepishly. "I see the date went well."

"You were spying on us?" Sam felt like his privacy had been violated.

"No, I was… supervising… Kevin's cute though, I can see why you like him," Dean nudged his little brother with his elbow. "But you're probably exhausted from your make-out session and don't want to talk about it right now."

"All I'm telling you is that it was a really great first date," Sam responded as he got ready for bed. "If you're nice, I might tell you more tomorrow. 'Night Dean."

"Goodnight, Sammy," Dean mumbled after turning the light off. "Have fun dreaming about Kevin."

Sam just ignored Dean and closed his eyes. He knew that he would dream about Kevin. He'd dream of the sweet taste that the ice cream had left on Kevin's lips and the way it felt to hold him. It had been a good night.


	3. Chapter 3

Saturday morning came quickly for Sam. The sun shone onto his face through the crack in the curtain and he huddled deeper into his blankets, trying to bring back the dream he'd been having. Dean was watching one of the channels that only play infomercials on the tv. "Dean," Sam grunted. "Turn that off."

"Nope, it's time to get up, buddy. It's 10 o'clock, go put some clothes on so we can go get McDonald's breakfast. They only serve it until 11," Dean responded.

"Ugh, fine," Sam dragged himself out of bed and tugged on a pair of jeans and a blue v-neck. He ran his fingers through his hair, making sure it wasn't sticking out anywhere. "Let's go."

They went to McDonald's and ordered their food. Sam had hoped Kevin would be working, but he wasn't. Dean took the tray over to a table and sat down. "So?" He looked at Sam expectantly.

"What?" Sam pretended he didn't know what Dean wanted.

"Your date. How did it go?" Dean pried.

Sam told him about his night with Kevin, leaving out the kisses in the bowling alley and Kevin's head on his shoulder during the movie. He knew that his older brother was going to tease him later, but he was just happy he could talk about it without Dean judging him.

"Homo," Someone coughed from the table beside theirs. Sam looked over. Bryce and Mike were there, and had heard everything Sam said. "Homo," Bryce coughed again. This time he and Mike burst into laughter. Sam tried to ignore them. He didn't need the negativity.

"Hey, fairy," Bryce said as they were leaving. "We'll see you and Katie at school on Monday."

"What was that all about?" Dean asked as they got in the car. "And who's Katie?"

Sam shook his head. "Nothing," he answered. "He's just the king of the apes at school. Katie is what they call Kevin. Kevin Tran. KT. They're just idiots. And still mad 'cause I kicked their ass in dodge ball on the first day."

"Well maybe next time you should just kick their ass instead," Dean suggested.

"I'd really rather not," Sam replied.

"Why not? You could probably take 'em. They look like they'd be pretty slow," Dean offered.

"Yeah, I could take them, but it wouldn't be a fair fight. It'd be way to easy," Sam joked.

"That's my boy, Sammy," Dean laughed as he clapped Sam on the shoulder.

They got back to the hotel and Sam immediately went to take a shower. He knew he'd have to warn Kevin about the apes knowing, but Sam wasn't afraid to stand up to those guys if he needed to. He got under the warm stream of water. One of the only good things about this hotel was that it had good water pressure, in some of the hotels they'd stayed at the water had barely trickled out of the shower head.

When he finished showering he sat on his bed, studying his Physics textbook while Dean watched the infomercial channel. The tv was the only sound, besides the occasional, "Sammy, look, a blanket with sleeves!" or "Woah, look how that thing works!" from Dean. Sam felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. "Hello?" He answered.

"Hi, Sam, it's Kevin," came the voice through the tinny speaker.

"Oh, hey, Kevin! Aren't you supposed to wait three days to call or something?" Sam joked.

"I think so," Kevin laughed. "But I'm okay with looking desperate. This might be kind of sudden, but my mom wants to have dinner. She wants to meet you… and your brother."

"Your mom wants to meet my brother?" Sam asked.

"Okay…" Kevin sighed. "I want to meet your brother, and when I was talking about it with my mom she said that I should invite you two over for Sunday dinner."

"Sure, we'll be there," Sam confirmed. "What time do you want us?"

"Uhm, my mom said that you should come around 4," Kevin responded.

"Alrighty then, I'll see you at 4 tomorrow… bye," Sam hung up the phone. He looked and saw Dean grinning at him."What?"

"You're bright red," Dean chuckled. "So what's happening? I heard something about me."

"Mrs. Tran wants us to go over for dinner tomorrow," Sam replied. "And you'd better be nice."

"I am always nice, Sammy. Although I might have to warn your boyfriend that if he breaks your heart, I'll break his leg," Dean smirked. "I'm kidding!" He cried, noticing the look his brother was giving him. "I'll be on my best behaviour. I'm meeting your boyfriend for the first time."

They went back to what they were doing. After a long silence Sam asked, "Are you doing anything today?"

"No, why? I have tonight off, thought I'd spend it with my baby brother," Dean answered. "Do you have something you want to do?"

"I was just thinking maybe we should go visit Bobby. He only lives about an hour from here," Sam suggested.

Dean agreed, and after a short call to Bobby to make sure it was okay, they were on the road. Sam brought along the book he was reading for English class, hoping to finish it on the way there. It was a book that Mr. Friesen claimed would "expand the way they think about love," whatever that meant. He finished the book sooner than he thought, so the rest of the drive was filled with texts from Kevin and listening to Dean sing along with his favourite tapes.

They arrived at Bobby's and knocked on the door. They were greeted with a grin and a hug from the gruff-looking man. "I'm makin' burgers for supper," Bobby informed the boys and they went to sit on the back deck while he barbequed.

Sam knew he should put his phone away while they were visiting, but he also wanted to keep talking to Kevin. He was still a part of the conversation, he was just multitasking. It wasn't until Sam giggled aloud at one of the texts that Bobby asked, "Who you textin'? You got a girlfriend?"

"Uh…" Sam stammered.

"Nope, he's got a boyfriend," Dean said in a teasing voice.

"A boyfriend?" Bobby repeated. "Is he a good kid?"

"Yeah," Sam blushed. "His name is Kevin…" He was surprised at how nonchalant Bobby was being. He knew that if their dad found out, he would go berserk, so a part of Sam assumed that was how that entire generation viewed sexuality.

"Kevin. Huh, maybe I'll get to meet him one day," Bobby smiled and turned his attention back to the burgers. "What about you, Dean? Got your eye on anyone?"

"Nah, not this time," Dean answered. "I decided to let Sam have all the fun."

They ate the burgers in Bobby's living room and watched a hockey game. Sam had never cared for hockey much, but he cheered for whatever team Bobby was cheering for. Sam loved being at Bobby's house. It was one of the things he could always count on being there. No matter how many different places they went, they always ended up back at Bobby's for a little bit.

At the end of the evening, Bobby gave each of them another hug and told them to come back whenever they wanted. While Sam hadn't intended on telling Bobby about Kevin, he was glad he did. Or Dean did. Dean must have known how Bobby would react. "Does Bobby know you're bi?" Sam asked Dean as they were driving back to the hotel.

"Yeah, he was the first person I talked about it with. I hope you don't mind that I told him about Kevin," Dean replied.

"I don't mind," Sam told him. "I would have told him if I knew he wasn't going to react the way Dad would."

Dean nodded. "Well, Bobby and Dad are two completely different people," he remarked. They drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence. By the time they got back, Sam just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep.

After he woke up the next day, Sam waited eagerly for four o'clock. He was nervous about meeting Kevin's mom, but he was pretty sure she'd like him. To be in the "family business" you had to be at least a little charming. He was also afraid of what Dean was going to say to Kevin. His older brother had promised to be nice, but in Dean's mind "nice" still included teasing him.

When four o'clock finally came, Sam and Dean drove over to the Tran's house. "Be nice," Sam warned as they knocked on the door. Kevin opened the door with a smile.

"Hi, Sam," Kevin said. He could feel himself blushing.

"Hi," Sam smiled back. They stared at each other for a moment before Dean cleared his throat. "Oh, uh… this is my brother Dean," Sam introduced.

"I'm his older, better looking brother," Dean replied as he shook Kevin's hand. "Sam's told me all about you."

They stepped inside and took off their coats and shoes. "My mom's making chicken lasagne, I hope that's okay," Kevin told them. Sam assured Kevin it was while he led them to the kitchen, where Mrs. Tran was putting a dish into the oven. "Mom, this is Sam," Kevin motioned like he was presenting something in class.

The petite woman walked over and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Tran," Sam smiled politely.

"Oh, please," she waved her hand, "call me Linda."

"And this is Sam's older brother Dean," Kevin told his mom. She turned her attention to the eldest brother and shook his hand as well. Linda suggested that they go into the living room so they could talk and get to know each other.

Sam wasn't sure exactly what Kevin had told her. Did he tell her that they would probably be moving soon? Or did he leave out that piece of information? Sam and Kevin sat close together on the couch while Dean and Linda sat on the two armchairs. She asked all of the questions Sam assumed she'd ask: what does your dad do, where are you from, how are you liking school, do you have a job…

Somehow, they had gotten onto the subject of what they were like as children. Sam listened to Dean telling the story of the time Sam had pretended to be Batman and jumped off the roof of a shed, breaking his arm. That was one of Dean's favourite stories to tell, Sam didn't know why.

Linda laughed, "When Kevin was young, about four years old, we had this dog named Poppy who loved to bite Kevin's pants. She always managed to pull them down, I don't know how. So one day, Kevin is outside with her and I look out the window just in time to see Poppy pull Kevin's pants down, then try to jump on him, which sent him flying face-first into a puddle. Oh Kevin cried so hard."

Sam grinned and looked at Kevin, whose face was bright red. "Mom," Kevin protested. "Why would you tell that story?"

"Because it's funny," Linda stated like it was obvious. Kevin just shook his head.

Linda and Dean kept telling each other stories about Kevin and Sam's childhood. Sam noticed that Dean talked about him the same way Linda talked about Kevin. Like a parent, not a brother. Looking back, Sam noticed that Dean basically was his father. He'd taken care of Sam ever since he was little. They definitely didn't have a typical brotherly relationship. Dean was like a father and a brother rolled up in one. Dean was fatherly enough to listen and give Sam advice when he needed it, but brotherly enough to make fun of him for it, and Sam really didn't mind.

When they had finished cleaning up after dinner, Kevin and Sam decided to go for a walk. "Well, I should get going then," Dean excused himself. "It was nice to meet both of you," He said after he put his shoes and jacket on.

Before they left, Sam told his mom that they'd be coming back so she could say goodbye to Sam later. It was already dark outside, the days were so short in winter. It felt like there was more dark than light. As they walked down the street, Sam felt Kevin's hand brush against his own. He instinctively entwined his fingers with Kevin's, like they'd been together forever. From the first time they met, everything had just felt so natural to Sam.

"So, I have to tell you something," Sam started. "My brother and I went out for breakfast yesterday and he wanted me to tell him about our date, so I told him most of it and it turns out that Bryce and Mike were sitting next to us and heard everything," he babbled, barely stopping to take a breath. "Oh, and Dean was spying on us when we said goodnight on Friday."

Kevin was quiet for a moment. "I don't care if Bryce and Mike know, they're bullies, they've been bullying me for years. I'm used to it," Kevin said decidedly. "I don't care if everyone knows," He added. "I _want _people to know that I have such a cute boyfriend. And after meeting Dean tonight, that really isn't surprising," Kevin laughed.

It was a clear night, crisp and cold. The winter moon was bright, almost full. Sam looked at Kevin, who looked perfect in the cold blue light. Sam's free hand was cold, but he wasn't going to complain. They wandered around town on the ice-covered sidewalks, Kevin nearly slipped a few times but Sam was able to keep him on his feet. They were out for almost an hour before the cold got to be unbearable and they went back to Kevin's house to watch a movie.

They went to the basement and Sam took a seat on the corner of the couch while Kevin put the movie in. Kevin settled in beside Sam, leaning against him. Sam was glad that Kevin was the kind of person who liked to cuddle. Growing up, Sam didn't have a lot of physical contact. When he was a kid and saw another kid holding hands with their parent in public, he always felt a pang of jealousy. He remembered when he was five and tried to hold his dad's hand. It did not end well. Sam relished the feeling of Kevin's skin against his, the way their bodies seemed to melt into one another. He wanted to remember this. He wanted to remember the softness of Kevin's lips and the smoothness of his hands.

Kevin didn't want to talk about Sam leaving, and Sam respected that, but it didn't stop him from worrying about it the whole time he was watching the movie. He was absentmindedly running his fingers up and down Kevin's bicep, thinking about how badly he wanted this to last forever. He knew that when his dad came back, they'd leave and he wouldn't have any physical contact for a long time. He was dreading leaving. He knew that once they left, there was a chance he wouldn't see Kevin again. So he spent his time memorizing everything about the smaller boy.

The movie ended and neither Sam nor Kevin moved to get up. Sam leaned his head back onto the couch, closed his eyes and murmured, "I wish I could stay here."

"Sam," Kevin cooed. "I told you not to think about that… we'll figure something out when the time comes."

"I know. I know I shouldn't think about it, but I can't stop. I don't know what I'm going to do when my dad gets back and we leave. Once we leave, we never come back, and as much as I don't want that to be the case, it always is… and I… I don't want to leave you. I don't want you to move on and find someone new. I don't want to find someone new," Sam said softly. "I can't. I don't want to go on the road in the impala. All I'll be thinking about is you. Moments like this where we got to be close, where I got to hold you and feel human warmth."

"Sam," Kevin looked into his eye and gently stroked his cheek, "I promise you, we'll figure something out. Everything will turn out okay, trust me." He pulled the larger boy towards him, planting a warm kiss on his lips. "We'll be okay." Sam smiled and they sat their silently for a while, enjoying each other's company, savouring the moment.

The next morning Sam and Kevin met in the school parking lot, like they always did. When they walked into school there was a sign announcing there was a school assembly, so they went into the gym and took a seat on the bleachers.

"Look guys," Bryce's voice came from behind them, "it's the two homos, together at last."

"Just ignore him," Kevin told Sam. "If we ignore him, he'll eventually leave us alone."

The two boys could hear the apes making kissing noises behind them and whispering derogatory terms. Sam and Kevin tried to focus on what the principal was saying, but it was hard to hear over the idiocy of the boys behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw someone's foot headed for Kevin's back. He grabbed the boy by the ankle and turned to glare at him. "Don't," he growled.

"What are you gonna do about it, fairy?" Ryan spat.

Sam wanted to hurt him. He knew he could do some serious damage if he twisted Ryan's ankle, but he wasn't in the mood to get in trouble, so he just scowled at the boy. "You don't want to know," he released Ryan's foot and turned back to the assembly.

Kevin looked up at Sam, waiting for some explanation of what happened. Sam made a motion letting Kevin know not to worry about it. Again, he saw the foot headed towards Kevin. He gripped Ryan's ankle tighter this time, twisting until he was sure Ryan would feel it for a while. Sam glowered at him and dropped his foot. The whispers behind him got quieter before he saw a foot coming towards his side.

Sam intercepted it and turned to see whose it was. It was Mike's. He looked shocked that Sam had stopped him. "Seriously. Don't," Sam warned him. "You really don't want to mess with me." He released Mike's foot. A few moments later, the principal released the assembly. With only ten minutes left until the period was over, it wasn't mandatory that students go to their first period classroom.

Kevin and Sam were at Sam's locker when Bryce and his posse came up to them. "Hey," Sam said casually. "Ryan, are you limping? What happened?" He taunted.

"Look, ladies," Bryce motioned at Kevin and Sam, "We just came here to let you know that you're disgusting and should be burned."

"Oh, is that so?" Sam asked, taking a step towards him with a threatening look on his face. Kevin put his hand on Sam's chest and gently told him to stop.

"Yeah, listen to your little girlfriend," Dave laughed. The other guys laughed along and high-fived. Sam didn't understand why these guys thought they had clever retorts.

"Shut up," Kevin commanded.

"What did you say, princess?" Bryce replied menacingly.

"I said shut the hell up," Kevin repeated, his voice loud and confident. "What are you so afraid of? Why do you care what other people do? It doesn't change your life at all. Why does this," Kevin grabbed Sam's hand, "make you so angry."

"You know we're gonna tell everyone," Bryce threatened.

"Does it look like I really care?" Kevin laughed. "I'M KEVIN TRAN AND I'M DATING SAM WINCHESTER!" he shouted loudly in the crowded hall, holding Sam's hand above his head. "YES, I, KEVIN, A BOY, AM IN LOVE WITH SAM, A BOY!" His voice returned to normal, "No one cares but you four. And I don't know why you do. You bully and pick on everyone incessantly. Does it make you feel good about yourself? Do you really need to put other people down to feel good about yourself? Are you trying to impress girls? Because let me tell you, _**no one **_is impressed. Now leave my _boyfriend _and me alone."

"We'll get you in gym class," Bryce muttered at Sam before all four boys walked back towards the gym.

"That… was awesome," Sam told Kevin, putting his hands on the smaller boys sides. "I'm proud of you." They smiled at each other. "You're in love with me?" Sam asked shyly.

Kevin blushed. "Yes," he confirmed. "I am in love with you, Sam Winchester."

"And I'm in love with you, Kevin Tran," Sam smiled before leaning down to kiss him. The bell for the next class rang. "Well… I've gotta go to gym class, I'll see you in math," Sam smirked. "Hopefully I can completely embarrass those guys today."

"I'll see you later," Kevin chuckled before heading to his next class.

Sam went and got changed for gym. He wasn't excited to have a class with Bryce after all of that, but he was confident he could beat those guys at any sport. When he walked into the gym he saw that the volleyball nets had been set up. Part of Sam was relieved that they weren't playing a contact sport. He knew that if they were, he'd be a target.

The teacher grouped them into teams of six. Only 24 students were in class today, so it worked out that everyone could play the whole class. The teacher said they'd be having a mini tournament and the team that won the whole thing would automatically get 100 percent on their next health quiz. Sam sized up his team and was relieved that all five of the others looked like they'd know how to play volleyball. He looked at the rest of the teams. Not surprisingly, all four of the apes were on the same team. Sam didn't care if they lost against any other team in the class. He just had to be that one. The teacher matched up the teams and, to Sam's delight, they were playing the apes first.

Sam's team got off to a great start. For all the talk Bryce and his friends did, they were really lousy at volleyball. They finally managed to scramble together and set up for a spike. Dave was about to spike, and when he tried, Sam jumped up and blocked it, causing the ball to drop on the ape's side of the net. "You can't do that," Dave whined.

"Yes, I can," Sam mocked Dave. "It's called a block, maybe you've heard of it?" he raised his eyebrows.

Dave scowled and put what Sam assumed was a look of determination on his face. Sam just laughed, which enraged the boy even more. It was Sam's serve now, and they only needed one more point to win.

Sam knew exactly what to do. He stepped back from the end line and stared at Dave. "It's coming right for you," he mouthed and pointed. Sam threw the ball in the air, ran towards it and jumped, making hard contact with the ball. There was no spin on it as it went flying over the net, wobbling back and forth before landing beside Dave. His teammates cheered. Sam gave Bryce and the others a cocky smile as the gym teacher marked their victory on the white board. "You're welcome, boys," Sam called tauntingly and bowed. "Maybe next time you'll actually return a serve."

Sam's team went on to beat all of the other teams as well, which meant that Sam had one less quiz to study for. In math class, he told Kevin about gym class and completely annihilating the apes' team. The break between physics and chemistry would be the real test to see if Sam and Kevin would finally be left alone.

When the time came and Bryce and his friends walked into the classroom and sat down without even looking at Sam and Kevin. Sam thought that they might have learned their lesson, but after classes were done for the day when he and Kevin were walking to Kevin's car, the four of them blocked their path. Sam rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" He asked, obviously annoyed.

"We just want payback," Bryce said with a mock innocence in his voice. He took a step towards Sam, "For gym class, and for embarrassing us in the hallway before gym."

"And you're going to fight us?" Sam replied dubiously. "Really?" It seemed these guys would never get it.

"No, we're just going to punch you." Bryce aimed for Sam's face, but Sam ducked and hit him in the shoulder with his elbow.

"You sure you want to do this? All four of you against me?" Sam questioned Bryce, who was clutching his shoulder in pain. When Kevin interjected, Sam tried to assure him he'd be fine. Kevin knew there was no way to stop this, the apes had bloodlust in their eyes, so he just took Sam's backpack from him.

"You think we can't take you?" Ryan tried to make himself look big and stepped towards Sam.

"No," Sam answered simply. He took a step towards Ryan so they were face to face. Sort of. Ryan, try as he might, wasn't a very tall kid. "I know you can't." he poked Ryan in the arm and the shorter boy lunged towards him, grabbing him at the waist. '_What an idiot_' Sam thought as he raised his knee and hit the boy square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Ryan staggered back and swung at Sam while he was still trying to catch his breath. Sam sidestepped the punch easily and threw a punch of his own, making contact with the boy's face. Ryan looked like he was about to start crying as blood flowed from his face, but he took a few steps back, defeated.

"So who's next?" Sam taunted. Mike rushed at him, trying to throw a punch as he did. Sam grabbed Mike's fist and twisted his arm to his back, pushing the boy down while he did. Mike was kneeling on the ground so Sam let go of his arm and kicked him, hard, square in the middle of his back. "Dave? Bryce?" A crowd had gathered around them now and Bryce pushed Dave towards Sam. Sam smiled as he easily blocked all of Dave's attempted punches. Dave looked like he should know how to fight, he was tall and broad with a big, sturdy build. Dave swung at Sam, who blocked it before delivering a quick hit to Dave's throat. Dave choked and waved his arms in defeat.

"Come on, Bryce," Sam coaxed like Bryce was a baby, "Come on. You can do it." Once he was close enough, Bryce started throwing punches, his arms flailing as Sam dodged every one. "It's like you're not even trying," Sam snickered.

"Fight back," Bryce growled, still trying to land a punch.

"No, I like this much better. I'm letting you make yourself look stupid instead of doing it forward," Sam sassed, his words creating a flicker of determination in the ape's eyes.

"Fight back!" Bryce yelled.

"Well, since you asked so nicely."Sam dodged a few more punches, getting into position, and elbowed Bryce in the back of the neck. Bryce stumbled to his knees. "Want more?" Sam bent over so his face was level with Bryce's. Bryce didn't say anything, he just started swinging his arms again. Bryce tried to kick Sam, but he caught the ape's foot and pushed him back so he fell to the pavement with a thud. "Now, are we done here?"

Bryce moaned in pain and nodded. "Okay, then. Now you're going to leave me and Kevin alone, got it?" Bryce nodded again. The crowd dissipated as Sam walked back to Kevin and grabbed his backpack.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Kevin asked incredulously.

"Let's just say that my family has different priorities than most," Sam laughed, slinging his arm over Kevin's shoulder.

"You took on four of them! Without even breaking a sweat!" Kevin cried. "It was incredibly sexy. I didn't know you were so hardcore! I always thought you were the kind that used words instead of actions," Kevin babbled, "but I'm so glad that you used actions this time."

"I don't pick fights," Sam smiled, "But when words don't work and they're determined to fight, I'm gonna knock them down a peg or two."

"And I'm glad that you did," Kevin smiled and leaned over the central console in his car to give Sam a kiss. "My hero," Kevin joked, throwing his arm across his forehead the way the damsel in distress always did in old movies.

They went to Kevin's house to study for a bit. There was a physics test on Thursday that involved remembering a lot of equations and terms. They sat on Kevin's bed, textbooks open and pages of notes spread out on it. As it neared supper time, Sam had to pack up. "Dean's expecting me," he explained. Kevin drove him to the hotel. Sam gave Kevin a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car.

"Thanks for saving me today, prince charming," Kevin called through the open window.

"It was my pleasure," Sam responded, giving Kevin a little bow. He waved goodbye to Kevin as he backed away. "Hey, Dean," Sam said when he got into their room.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean replied, flicking through the channels on the tv. "How was school?"

"Pretty good," Sam answered. "Had to beat up some kids…"

"The guys from McDonald's?" Dean asked eagerly, looking away from the tv screen.

"Yeah, and two more," Sam answered. "Kevin told them off this morning, which they weren't too pleased about. Then I kicked their ass playing volleyball in gym class. After last period they stopped us on the way to Kevin's car, demanding a fight. So I fought 'em."

"That's my boy," Dean beamed. "Did they even land a punch?" Dean searched Sam's face for any signs.

"Nope," Sam grinned. "They aren't very bright."

"Wow, Sammy. Four guys all by yourself, I underestimated you," Dean marveled.

"So did they," Sam smirked. "It works to my advantage."

/

Bryce and the apes avoided Sam and Kevin for the rest of the week. On Friday, Kevin and Sam left for the concert right after school, planning on going to dinner beforehand. Sam was excited, it would be his first concert ever. They went to a nice place for supper then headed to the concert arena. Since Sam wasn't really sure what to do, he just copied everything Kevin did.

They had decent seats. They weren't too far back that you couldn't see the stage, but they weren't close either. The bonus, Kevin explained, was that they were at the back of their section, so they could stand up without getting in the way of other people.

Sam had a blast, he sang along to the songs he knew and tried to learn the ones he didn't. For some of the songs, Kevin pulled him to his feet, trying to get him to dance. Sam eventually obliged, smiling at his boyfriend's dancing. Kevin was grinning, hair flying everywhere. He didn't have a care in the world. His energy was infectious and it didn't take long before Sam was doing the same thing.

"Oh, man," Kevin exclaimed as they were walking back to the car, "that was a _great _concert. What did you think of your first concert ever?"

"It was different than I expected it to be… in a good way," Sam replied. "I wish I knew more of the songs though."

They listened to the band's CD on the way home. "This has been a great week," Kevin grinned, glancing over at Sam.

"It really has been, even though we had a test in math, physics and chem," Sam smiled back.

They drove along, not speaking, just enjoying each other's presence and listening to the music. "Kevin!" Sam screamed over the sound of metal being crushed. Kevin didn't know what was going on, he could feel that they were moving, but he wasn't sure which direction they were moving in. When the car finally came to a stop, Kevin was dangling upside down by his seatbelt.

"Sam, are you okay?" Kevin asked with no response. He undid his seat belt, wincing when he landed on what used to be the roof of his car. He got closer to Sam. "Sam?" Kevin cried, his voice getting louder. "Sam, can you hear me? Sammy!" But Sam didn't move. Kevin checked to make sure he was breathing and made sure that he had a pulse. "Sam," he whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Sam, please be okay. Please, please, _please_ be okay."H


	4. Chapter 4

Everything was a blur. Kevin remembered bright lights, a voice asking if he was okay, the sirens and flashing lights of emergency vehicles, and the crunching of metal as emergency crews struggled to get Sam out of the car.

Kevin knew that, compared to Sam, his injuries were minor. He had cuts and scratches, the EMT's had plucked some pieces of the windshield out of his skin. The ambulance ride felt like it would never end. There wasn't space for someone in there. "Are we almost there?" Kevin asks the EMT, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Just a few more minutes," the EMT replied. They were driving to the nearest hospital, which was in the city.

"Did someone call my mom? And Sam's brother? His dad's on a business trip," Kevin fretted. Dean needed to know. His mom needed to know.

The EMT nodded. "Your mom and Sam's brother have both been contacted. They're already on their way to the hospital."

When they got to the hospital, Kevin was examined by the doctor. "Do you know if the other boy in the accident is okay?" Kevin asked and the doctor replied that he was unable to reveal that information. He needed stitches on the cut above his eye and a few of the deeper cuts on his arm. After he was cleared for discharge, he sat in the waiting room playing with his hands and trying to distract himself with anything he could find. He read all of the posters five times and every pamphlet he could find.

"Where is he?" Dean asked urgently as he strode in.

"I don't know," Kevin answered, following Dean as he marched towards the nurse's station.

"Sam Winchester. Where is he?" Dean demanded, staring fiercely at the nurse.

"Uh… right now he's in surgery…" the nurse replied nervously.

"Surgery?" Dean roared, "I need to talk to a doctor." The nurse fumbled as she paged a doctor. When Dean saw the doctor walking down the hall he charged towards him. "Sam Winchester, why is he in surgery?"

"He sustained some pretty serious injuries in the accident. We needed to do surgery to realign his spine, three of the vertebrae in the lower thoracic/upper lumbar region of his back are broken, causing potential damage to his spinal cord. We're not quite sure as to the extent of the damage. That will be determined after he gets out of surgery. He also has minor head trauma and quite a few broken bones," The doctor rambled.

"Okay, so when will he get out of surgery?" Dean asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but if you wait in the waiting room, I'll come get you when he's in the recovery room," the doctor replied. After Dean nodded, he turned to tend to another patient.

Dean leaned against the wall of the hallway and slid to the floor in defeat, clenching his jaw to keep from crying. He felt so powerless. There was nothing he could do to help Sam, all he could do was wait. Kevin sat down beside him. "D… D… Dean, I… I'm sorry," he stammered through tears.

"It's not your fault, Kevin. It could've happened to anyone," Dean choked, feeling the tears building behind his eyes. "You're okay?" Kevin nodded. "Good." There were a million questions going through his mind. If Sam had injured his back, did that mean he'd need a wheelchair? Would he be able to walk? What would they do if he couldn't walk? He would be able to hunt, and he'd probably need to do some kind of rehabilitation therapy, but their dad wouldn't want to stay in one place that long.

When Linda got to the hospital, she ran to Kevin and threw her arms around him. "Thank God you're okay," She sighed. "How's Sam?" Kevin felt the lump in his throat, all he could do was shrug before he was unable to hold back his sobs. He crumpled to the floor and Linda sat down, pulling him close to her and rocking him back and forth. "It's okay," She whispered in his ear. "It's okay, he'll be okay."

Dean jumped to his feet when he saw the doctor come in the waiting room. "You can come with me," he motioned for them to follow him. "He's still out from surgery, but you can see him," the doctor said over his shoulder as he led them to Sam's room.

Seeing Sam for the first time was a shock. He had wires and tubes everywhere. His face and neck were cut by breaking glass and metal. It was unfair, Kevin thought. He had gotten off with barely a scratch. Sam's entire right side looked like it had been crushed. The doctor told them that Sam had a broken collar bone, wrist, and a few broken ribs, all on the right side… It was a hard to look at, Sam all broken and bruised, but no matter how hard he tried, Kevin couldn't look away.

"Can I have a moment with him?" Dean asked, breaking the silence. "I need to call my dad, and I'd rather not do it in the hall with everyone listening."

"Sure thing, sweetie," Linda said gently, leading Kevin out into the hall. "Take as long as you need." They sat on the chairs outside the door and Kevin leaned his head onto his mother's shoulder.

Dean picked up his phone and dialled his dad's number, he was not look forward to this. The call went through to voicemail, so Dean took a deep breath and tried to hide the tears in his voice. "Hey, Dad. It's Dean, Sam's been in an accident. We're not sure how badly he's injured right now, but he has lots of broken bones and he needed surgery on his spine. Call me back or just come as soon as you can." He wasn't sure if he sounded normal or not. It only took a few minutes before his dad called back. "Dad, you need to come right away," He said when he picked up the phone.

"Is he gonna be okay?" John asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. You should get here and talk to the doctor," Dean suggested.

"Dean, I can't just leave. I'm close to getting the thing that killed your mother. Just keep me posted, I'll come when I can," John responded before hanging up.

Dean stared at his phone in disbelief. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know how to handle this situation… He called Bobby, who picked up on the second ring. When he explained what happened, Bobby said he'd be there as soon as possible. "Oh, Sammy," Dean whispered, sitting on the chair beside the bed. "Please be okay." He gingerly touched his brother's wrist, trying not to touch any of the tubes or wires.

A nurse came in to check Sam's vitals, giving Dean a sad smile when he looked up at her. When she left, Dean told Kevin and Linda that they could come back in and returned to his chair. They sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the machines that Sam was hooked up to. "If you want to go home, you can. You don't need to sit here," Dean told them.

"No," Kevin replied quickly. "No, I want to stay here."

Dean looked at Linda, "If you need to leave to go to work tomorrow or something, I can bring him back whenever."

"Yeah, I have work at 8," She glanced at the clock. By the time she got home, she'd only be able to get 3 hours of sleep. "But I'll come back on Sunday morning. I hope the damage isn't bad. Goodnight, Dean. I love you, Kevin."

"I love you too, Mom," Kevin mumbled as she kissed his head.

Dean and Kevin sat in silence, watching the machines, watching Sam's chest rise and fall. "Oh my god," a voice came from the door. Before Dean knew it, he had Bobby's arms around him and was crying into the older man's shoulder. "How is he?"

"He's recovering. We won't know until the doctor does a few more tests. They're waiting for the anesthetic to wear off. It should be in a few hours," Dean replied. "Oh, Bobby, this is Kevin, Sam's boyfriend. Kevin, this is our uncle Bobby."

"This ain't how I wanted to meet you, son. You were in the accident, too?" Bobby drawled.

"Me neither… yeah, I was driving," Kevin responded quietly.

"Well, it's good that you're okay. This wasn't your fault, so don't blame yourself," Bobby assured the boy.

Sam woke up at about 6 that morning. "D…Dean," he croaked. "Dean?"

"Sammy!" Dean exclaimed, standing to lean over his brother and push the call button for the nurse. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh… tired. We were in an accident, me and Kevin, is he okay? Where's Kevin?" Sam asked, his voice sounding panicked.

"I'm right here, Sam," Kevin cooed, standing on the other side of the bed and gently touching Sam's cheek. Sam smiled when he saw Kevin. "I'm okay," Kevin noticed Sam looking at the cut above Kevin's eyebrow, "and now I'll have a cool scar." He laughed.

Just then, a nurse walked in. "Hi, Sam. You're awake," she smiled. "I've just got to take your vitals, and then the doctor will be in to see you."

A few minutes after the nurse left, the doctor walked in. He was tall, with greying hair. "Hello, Sam. I'm Dr. Andrews," he began. "I'm going to bring you up to speed with what's happened so far and what's going to happen, alright?" Sam nodded. "Do you want your family to stay with you or do you want to talk, just us?"

"Uhh, I'd like them to stay," Sam replied timidly. He was nervous about what the doctor would tell him. He knew that he had broken some bones but his body hurt all over, so he wasn't sure on the specifics.

"Last night, when you came in we did several x-rays and noticed that three of the vertebrae in your back were broken. We needed to get you into surgery and fuse the bones back together before it caused irreversible damage to your spinal cord. The broken vertebrae were the bottom two thoracic vertebrae and the first lumbar vertebrae. This is the injury that is the most worrying. The right side of your collarbone, your right wrist and two of your ribs are broken as well," Dr. Andrews explained. "Now, today we are going to do a few tests to see how extensive the damage to your spinal cord is. We're going to do a neurological examination of your legs. We're going to be checking the sensory and motor systems. Luckily, the broken vertebrae are in your lower back, which means that no matter how bad the damage is, your arms won't be affected."

Sam didn't know how to respond. The doctor had basically said that he might never walk again. He tried to think positively, telling himself that it could have been worse. His back could have broken higher and he wouldn't be able to use his arms either. And maybe he'd still be able to use his legs. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, waiting for him to say something or do something. Sam opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "W...w…will I be able to walk again?" he finally stammered.

Dr. Andrews hesitated for a minute before saying, "Well, that really depends on the severity of the damage. There are two main kinds of spinal cord injuries, complete and incomplete. If it's a complete injury you won't be able to walk or feel your legs. If it's an incomplete injury, you may be able to move them, you may feel them, or parts of them. It's hard to know before we do the tests. Are you ready to start?"

Sam nodded and managed to choke out, "Yeah." Dr. Andrews said that it's best if no one else is in the room, and Sam agreed that Dean, Kevin, and Bobby should wait outside. He was nervous, but he didn't want everyone's expectant eyes on him the entire time.

The first thing the doctor did was ask if he felt any numbness or tingling. "All I feel is pain. No numbness or tingling," Sam answered. The doctor marked it on his clip board.

"First, we're going to see if your motor system still works. I know that you're sore, but I'm going to ask you to face your body towards me and sit on the edge of the bed," Dr. Andrews suggested.

Sam tried to move his legs, but they felt dead. He pushed on the bed with his left hand to turn his body towards the doctor and his legs fell off the edge of the bed, gritting his teeth so he wouldn't cry out from the pain of the IV in his hand. Dr. Andrews wrote on his clip board again. Sam was worried, what if he couldn't move his legs? What would he do? He couldn't be a hunter if he was in a wheelchair. True, he didn't want to be a hunter, but he didn't want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life either.

"Okay, now can you lift your right leg for me?" Dr. Andrews asked. Sam stared at his leg, willing it to move, but it didn't. No matter how hard he thought about moving his leg, all it did was dangle there. Sam sighed, trying to hold back tears. "How about your left?" Sam tried to move it and when it didn't move, he could feel tears streaming down his face. "Can you try moving your ankles?" Sam wiped the tears from his eyes. Nothing would move. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move anything.

"We're going to try the touch test now, okay?" Sam nodded tearfully to the doctor's question. "I'm going to ask you to close your eyes and let me know when you feel me touching you, alright?" Sam closed his eyes. "_This is pointless_" Sam thought. "_The results are just going to be the same as the last test. A big fat nothing._" Sam was surprised when he felt something on his leg. He could still feel his legs… well, part of them, at least. The test continued and, to Sam's relief, the results were much better than the previous test.

They did a few more tests to see if Sam could feel pin pricks, temperature, the position of his body, and vibrations. The doctor flipped through his clip board, double checking to make sure he'd covered everything. "Well, Sam, the good news is that your sensory system hasn't sustained as much damage as your motor system. However, there still is significant damage to both systems. Over the first 24 hours after a spinal cord injury, we like to keep an eye on it, see if there's any improvement. If there's improvement in the first 24 hours, there's a higher chance of regaining mobility. I'll come back in a few hours and we'll see if there's any change, okay?" Dr. Andrews informed him.

When the doctor left the room, Kevin and Dean rushed in. "So?" Dean asked. "What happened?" Sam knew that they were probably waiting anxiously for the doctor to finish doing all of the tests.

"I still have some feeling in my legs," Sam paused, hoping to say the next part without crying. "But I can't move them." Neither Kevin nor Dean knew what to say. "He said that we're going to monitor it because there's a chance I could get some of the mobility back, but…" his voice broke.

"Sam, I'm sorry…" Kevin whispered. "I…"

"Kevin, it's not your fault. It could have happened to anyone," Sam interrupted. "This is just another challenge I have to face. At least I know that the people who love me will be here to help me to get through it."

"Kevin, can I talk to Sam alone, please?" Dean asked. Kevin looked at Sam and when he nodded Kevin went to sit outside again. When the door was closed, Dean turned back to Sam. "What are we going to do about this? You can't be on the road constantly, you'll need a place to fully recover and adapt to whatever you end up needing. And there's no way Dad is going to stay in one spot. People will ask why Dad doesn't just settle down, what are we going to say?"

"Dean, can we not talk about this right now? I'm already trying to get used to the idea of being in a wheelchair, I really can't think about stuff like that right now," Sam replied, closing his eyes so he wouldn't cry. Kevin knocked gently on the door.

"Hey, so I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard everything you just said and if your dad absolutely can't settle down, Sam could probably stay with us," Kevin suggested, standing in the doorway. "I mean, I haven't asked my mom, but we have a lot of extra space. Then you wouldn't have to switch schools or anything, you'd just need to focus on getting better."

"Maybe…" Dean said, "maybe that would work."

"If you don't mind me asking, why can't your dad settle down? What exactly does your dad do?" Kevin pried.

"He's a travelling salesman," Dean answered a little too quickly.

"Dean, can you go get food or something so I can talk to Kevin?" It was more of an order, and Dean knew what he was going to do and knew there was nothing he could do to stop him, so he left the room, making sure the door was closed when he did.

"What is it?" Kevin replied, looking perplexed.

Sam took a deep breath. "I haven't been quite honest with you about my family. My dad isn't a salesman, he's a hunter."

"A hunter?" Kevin repeated. "Like, bears and deer and stuff?"

Sam chuckled softly, "I wish. He hunts monsters. Supernatural creatures. Things that most people think are just myths, like vampires and demons."

Kevin stared at Sam for a moment, like he was trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth. Sam looked so sincere, like there was no way he was lying. But vampires were fake. The supernatural didn't exist. "Are you joking?" was all Kevin could muster.

"I'm not. I wish I was. All of those creatures that you think are just stories or legends, they exist. And we hunt them," Sam stated. It was so matter-of-fact that Kevin felt like he'd be stupid not to believe him.

"Okay… I believe you. That still doesn't explain why he can't stop. Can't he quit and just get a normal job?" Kevin responded.

"Well, when I was a baby something supernatural killed my mother, and he won't rest until he finds it. That's the real reason he hunts, he's looking for it, and he kills everything he finds along the way," Sam stated.

"I see. So all of your life, you've just been moving from place to place, searching for this thing?" Kevin questioned. Sam nodded. "Wow, I can't even imagine. I can ask my mom if you can stay with us. It's the least I can do, considering…"

"Kevin. I said it before… this is not your fault," Sam promised. "Now get over here," he motioned for Kevin to sit on the edge of the bed. He pulled the smaller boy towards him and gently kissed his lips.

"I'm going to be by your side the whole time," Kevin whispered, tenderly caressing Sam's cheek.

"I know," Sam smiled and leaned his head into Kevin's hand. "I'm scared, Kevin," Sam murmured soberly. "I don't know what's going to happen and there's nothing I can do to change it."

"It's going to be okay. I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise," Kevin soothed. "I know that you can get through this, you're strong. You can do this." He leaned over and gave Sam a soft kiss.

When the doctor came in a few hours later, there had been no change in the motor functions of Sam's legs. He could feel his heart drop into his stomach. If things hadn't improved by now, they probably wouldn't. The doctor said there was a possibility he might regain some of the mobility, but at this point it wasn't very likely. Sam tried to stay positive, tried to convince himself that everything would be okay. Being in a wheelchair didn't mean he couldn't do anything.

Sam was in the hospital for ten days before he was discharged. He was happy to get out of the hospital, but he was nervous about being back in the "real world." His dad had finished up his hunt and was going to be meeting Linda that evening. Kevin sat with Sam in the back of the car as they drove back.

They got to the house and Kevin wheeled Sam to the guest room. Things felt a little awkward. Sam was scared of having to relearn how to do everything. He'd adjusted well when he was in the hospital, but now he needed to learn how to do everything again. Kevin sat down on the bed facing Sam.

"You know I'll be right beside you," Kevin said, taking Sam's hand.

Sam nodded and mustered a smile. "I'm just nervous about my dad coming here. And going back to school this week."

"You know you don't have to go back this week, you can wait however long you want and I can just get your homework and stuff," Kevin suggested.

"Yeah, but if I'm here alone, I won't be able to go anywhere. I still can't push myself," He replied, gesturing to his right arm. "And besides, I want the distraction."

"Well, it's almost time for dinner. Do you want to go to the living room to wait for your dad?" Kevin asked, checking his watch.

"If it's okay, I'd rather stay in here with you a little longer. I'm not ready to wait for my dad," Sam answered.

Kevin squeezed Sam's hand and kissed it. "We can stay in here as long as you want." Sam smiled and squeezed his hand back.

"Thanks," Sam sighed tiredly. "I just… I'm scared of facing everything. I have to learn to do everything again, including going to the bathroom. And I can't even use both of my arms. I feel like I'm just a huge burden now." Sam looked down. He tried to keep up a strong exterior, but it was hard sometimes. When he was in the hospital, they'd told him that he'd go through a period of mourning. He wanted things to be the way they were.

"Sam, look at me," Kevin murmured, gently guiding Sam's head so they were looking eye-to-eye. "I promise, you're not a burden. I can't even pretend to know how you feel. I can't imagine what it's like, but it's okay to be scared. If you need anything, just ask me. I'll be there to help you no matter what. I still feel like this is my fault, so I will be with you every step of the way."

"It's not your fault," Sam told the smaller boy. "We have each other. I'll help you deal with the guilt while you help me adjust to being in a wheelchair, okay?"

"Okay," Kevin whispered before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss onto his boyfriend's lips. There was a sharp knock at the door and Sam tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Let's go," Sam mumbled. Kevin carefully pushed Sam's wheelchair out to the living room, where John and Dean were waiting. "Hi, Dad," Sam said timidly.

"Sam," John gasped. "H…how are you feeling, considering?" Sam could see the shock on his father's face. Even though he knew Sam was in a wheelchair, it didn't feel real until he saw his son.

"Well, you know… I'm just happy I'm alive," Sam replied. Things felt so awkward between him and his dad. He knew he should introduce Kevin, but he didn't want to just say that they were friends. Kevin had assured Sam that he was okay with it, but he didn't want to lie. On the other hand, if he told his dad the truth, he would never talk to Sam again. "_Would that be a bad thing?_" Sam wondered. His dad was leaving anyway. "Dad, this is my…" Sam paused, not sure what to say. He took a deep breath, "My boyfriend, Kevin. Kevin this is my dad."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Dean and Kevin couldn't believe what Sam had just said. That wasn't the plan. Finally, John broke the silence, "I'm sorry… did you say boyfriend?"

"Yes," Sam stated plainly. He took Kevin's hand. "I want to be honest with you. I couldn't hide it from you forever, so I figured I'd just come right out with it." He couldn't read his dad's face. He knew it was a lot to take in, Sam being in a wheelchair and dating a guy.

"I… I don't know what to say. Uh…" John trailed off, "I'm… I'm happy for you. At least you have someone to help you get through this."

Sam stared at his dad in disbelief. That was not the reaction he'd prepared himself for. He was expecting yelling, anger, or some kind of homophobic response, not this. They were all sitting in awkward silence when Linda walked in and announced that dinner was ready.

They sat around the table and no one really knew what to say. The only sound was that of forks on plates. Occasionally, someone would clear their throat, trying to see if someone would say something. After dinner was over and they had cleaned up, John asked if he could have some alone time with his sons. The three of them went outside to have a family talk.

"Sam. I didn't want to say this inside or in front of Kevin, but I'm really disappointed in you. I can't believe my own son is gay. I don't want you to contact me anymore. I'm leaving, and that's that. I don't want to see you again. Ever," John growled.

That was the reaction that Sam had expected. He wasn't sure if he cared or not. His dad was hardly ever around, and Sam was going to be living with the Trans now anyway. It wasn't like it would make that big of a difference in his everyday life. He had bigger problems than his dad.

"Dean, are you coming with me?" John asked.

"Yeah, Dad, I'll come. Text me where you're going and I'll catch up in a little bit," Dean answered and John walked away. "Why would you tell Dad?"

"I didn't want to lie. It won't make that much of a difference, he's always gone anyway and he wouldn't have visited me, even if I wasn't with Kevin," Sam shrugged.

Dean shook his head. "I need to take a few notes from you sometimes, Sammy. Let's go inside," He said, turning his brother around.

"You're not leaving now?"

"I'll leave in a few hours. I want a little more time before we say goodbye," Dean replied.

"Where's your dad?" Kevin inquired when Sam and Dean came inside.

"Uh, he left. He wasn't too thrilled I'm dating a guy and now he doesn't want to see me," Sam responded. "It's not surprising."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Linda apologized. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Thanks. I'd rather do something to get my mind off everything. Do you guys want to play a board game?" Sam suggested, knowing they'd all agree. Everyone pitied him and did whatever he wanted to, which he didn't mind sometimes, but he hated the looks everyone gave him. They looked at him with such sad eyes, like he was broken. It got annoying pretty quickly, and he knew that when he went back to school, he'd be getting sad looks from everyone.

They spent the evening playing Sorry. Sam looked at everyone around him. They were all smiling and laughing, it almost felt like everything was normal. Oh, how he wished it was. He didn't want to be in the chair. Part of him, the part he tried to hide, was angry about what happened. He knew that if he talked about it, everyone would understand, but it would only make Kevin feel guiltier. He couldn't stop asking why. Why did it have to be him? Why did the truck have to hit them? Why couldn't he have been one of the lucky ones? Why, why, why…

It was getting late, so Dean announced that it was time for him to leave. He said goodbye to Linda and Kevin before turning to Sam. "Sammy, I'm going to come visit you whenever I can, I promise. I want you to text me every day, let me know how you're doing. You're strong and brave you'll get through this." They hugged awkwardly. "And Kevin," Dean added, "Don't hurt him."

"Goodbye, Dean. I'll… I'll see you the next time you're around, I guess," Sam said. He didn't want his brother to leave. Dean was the only constant thing in his life, and now he wouldn't be there. Dean nodded and left. "I'm tired, can you bring me to my room?" Sam asked.

"Sure thing," Kevin answered. "Do you think you'll need help changing?"

"Uh, maybe," Sam replied bashfully. He missed being independent. He missed being able to do things for himself. It would take a while to adjust to needing help with everything. Kevin helped Sam get on his pajama pants, Sam insisted on sleeping shirtless. After helping Sam into bed, Kevin checked if he needed anything else before he left. "Can you stay with me? I… I don't want to be alone," Sam admitted.

"Of course," Kevin murmured, crawling into bed with Sam. He wrapped his arms around the larger boy, his front as close to Sam's back as he could get.

Sam had missed being close to Kevin. Since the accident, they hadn't been able to just be together. Sam missed feeling Kevin's warmth, missed feeling his warm breath against his skin. Kevin gently kissed Sam's back. "I love you, Sam," he whispered.

"I love you, too."


	5. Chapter 5

***Author's note: Sorry this took so long to update! I'll definitely try to be faster next time!***

Sam groaned when his alarm clock went off. It was too early and he was not looking forward to the day. Today was his first day of school since the accident. He hit the snooze button and heard a soft knock on his door. "Sam?" Kevin called quietly as he peered around the corner. "Are you awake?"

Sam mumbled something incoherently before turning over to face Kevin. "I'm not excited for school," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"I know," Kevin replied. "But at least we made arrangements with the principal and teachers. Remember, all you need to do is text me and I can come get you. We don't have to stay the whole day if you don't want to." Kevin grabbed some clothes for Sam and helped him into them. It had become routine already. Sam still felt his cheeks turn red when Kevin's fingertips brushed against his bare skin. He couldn't wait until he could do things for himself instead of being so dependent on Kevin and Linda.

Sam could already feel that Kevin was getting stronger. Kevin helped him into the chair, with Sam's broken arm it was still a little awkward. He wheeled him into the kitchen for breakfast. "What do you want for breakfast?" Kevin asked. "Cereal, toast, waffles?"

"Uh, I'll just have some toast, like usual," Sam answered, trying his hardest not to audibly sigh as he watched Kevin put the bread in the toaster. He smiled when Kevin's cat, Moo, jumped onto his lap. Sam had never had a pet before, but he always assumed he wouldn't like cats. Frankly, he thought all cats seemed like assholes, but Moo was really sweet, except when she would try to sleep on Sam's face at night. He looked up when he heard Kevin giggling. "What?"

"It's just cute," Kevin replied. Sam had unknowingly been cooing at the cat while he petted her. "She doesn't usually like people, but she loves you." Moo was purring loudly, pushing her face into Sam's hand.

"Well, she's the only cat I've _actually _been around," Sam admitted, looking down at the fluffy black and white cat in his lap. She was actually a tiny cat, but her long fur made her look a lot bigger. Kevin brought him his toast and he gently nudged the kitty off of his knee. "What am I going to do during second period? Today's supposed to be gym, right?"

"Yeah," Kevin responded, swallowing the spoonful of cereal he had in his mouth. "The gym teacher said that you can take a spare period instead of sitting in the gym, so maybe you can work on some of the stuff you missed in other classes. I always go to the library for my spares," he suggested.

"I guess…" Sam mumbled. "But before the accident I was already ahead in most of my classes." When Kevin gave him a confused look, he elaborated, "I really want to go to college, and when we were constantly moving I had to make sure that I didn't miss any of the coursework that could be on the final exam, and since no two teachers do things in the same order, I always work as far ahead as I can, especially in math, physics, and chemistry and I've already read almost everything I need to for English."

"Didn't you say that your English teacher randomly added assignments that weren't on the outline? Maybe you missed something like that," Kevin offered.

"Hopefully," Sam sighed as he finished his toast. He just wanted things to go back to normal. He was glad that he got to stay in one place for a while and that he could be with Kevin, but he missed his brother. As long as he can remember, Dean had been there to take care of him, they were all each other had. Now Sam had Kevin and Linda, but Dean didn't have anyone. If his brother was there, things would be a little easier. There'd be less to get used to, that's for sure.

Sam and Kevin got to school early because Sam didn't want to be pushed down a full hallway, everyone staring at him. But when they got through the front door, there was a sign saying that they had an assembly. Apparently they were going to hear from some sort of inspirational speaker. _"Oh great," _Sam thought, _"Now there's no way to avoid the full hallway."_

"Do you want to go home?" Kevin asked. "We can just come back for third period, or just come for the afternoon."

"Uh… no," Sam answered. As much as he'd like to go home, he knew that he shouldn't. "I won't be able to avoid people staring at me forever, so I should just get used to it. I can do this."

"Okay, if you're sure…" Sam nodded and Kevin started to wheel him towards the gym. He was about to open the doors when they burst open.

"Oh, sorry, Kevin!" It was Mr. Friesen, Sam's English teacher. "And Sam, how are you doing?" His voice changed completely when he spoke to Sam. It sounded fake, too sweet, and pitying.

"I've been better," Sam replied, doing his best to muster a smile. He hated when people spoke like that, when people spoke down to him. Just because he'd broken a few bones didn't mean he was any less of a human. "Did I miss any assignments in class?" he changed the subject, hoping the teacher would speak normally.

"Oh, yes. There are two assignments that you missed, but it's alright, you don't have to do them," Mr. Friesen responded, still talking down to him. "You must have a lot of other classes to get caught up in."

"Not really," Sam said flatly. "Can I come get the assignments after the assembly?"

"Sure, just come by my room," Mr. Friesen suggested. "Oh, let me get that for you!" He held the door open and Kevin wheeled him into the gym.

Kevin knew that Sam would want to sit in the corner farthest away from the stage and the doors, so he headed towards it. Thankfully, there was enough room behind the final row of chairs for Sam's wheelchair to get through, so they took their place and tried not to watch as other students came in. Sam could feel people's eyes on him. Usually the back row was the first to fill up, but most of the students seemed to be keeping their distance, probably unsure about what to say.

"I feel like everyone's talking about me," Sam whispered to Kevin.

"It's okay, they're probably just awkward because they don't want to make you feel awkward," Kevin offered.

"I know," Sam sighed. "But it makes me feel even _more _awkward. It's like everyone's afraid of me or something. I just want them to treat me like I'm normal." He looked up when the door opened and Bryce and his friends walked in. Bryce made eye contact with Sam for a brief moment before quickly looking away. "Look who it is," Sam muttered and Kevin turned to look.

"I wonder if they'll say anything," Kevin remarked.

Bryce and his friends sat down a few rows ahead of Sam and Kevin. Suddenly, Dave got up and walked towards Sam and Kevin. "Hey, Kevin, Sam," Dave started sheepishly. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened. Not just about the accident, but about making fun of you guys, too. I was a dick, and I'm sorry… Would you mind if I sat with you?"

Kevin and Sam exchanged glances before Sam spoke, "Thanks for the apology, that's huge. You can join us, I'm just a little curious why you want to…"

"I didn't like listening to them talk shit about you. They were saying that your accident was god trying to get rid of the gays and that your injuries happened because you're gay. I think both of you are really brave, and seeing you today made me realize just how much of a coward I was being," Dave explained. "I'm not a religious person, I don't believe that being gay is wrong or anything like that, but I was just scared that Bryce would start making fun of me if I spoke up. I really am sorry, I was such an idiot."

"You're forgiven, Dave," Kevin told him. "I'm glad that you stood up to him. Everyone makes mistakes." Kevin gave him a reassuring smile as the principal tried to get all of the students' attention.

Sam wasn't all that interested in what they speaker was talking about. She was trying to raise awareness about drugs and alcohol because her son got involved with it and ended up being murdered or something like that. He found himself dozing off about halfway through and missed it. He tried to focus on what she was saying, but he always just found himself thinking about the future and how much different it would be because of the accident. He wouldn't have to be a hunter, which was a good thing. He could actually go to college. He didn't have to move every few weeks.

The assembly took up more time than expected. By the time it was over, it was already almost halfway through second period. Sam and Kevin waited until everyone else was out of the gym before they left. "I think I'm just going to skip the rest of this period," Kevin announced when they stopped at his locker. "By the time I get to class there will be barely any class left."

They quickly stopped by the English room to get the assignments from Mr. Friesen. They were both creative writing assignments. He had to write a poem for one and a short story for the other. Kevin sat next to Sam at one of the computers in the library. He couldn't use pen and paper to write, so he was using his good hand to type out his assignment. "Do you want me to type for you?" Kevin asked.

"No, I don't!" Sam snapped. He knew that Kevin was just trying to help, but he was tired of feeling so useless. "Sorry, Kevin. I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, Sam. I understand," Kevin smiled and gently rubbed Sam's back. Kevin knew he was lucky. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Sam was going through, what it would be like to go from being completely independent to needing help with absolutely everything in seconds. He hated what happened, hated that he could hear Sam crying when he thought everyone had gone to bed and the tears that formed in his eyes when he couldn't do the easiest task, like put on socks. Kevin knew that he should blame the other driver, and he did, but he felt responsible as well. If he wouldn't have suggested they go to the concert, this wouldn't have happened. If he had driven at the speed limit the whole time or if he would have stopped to get food like he wanted to, they would have missed the semi and Sam wouldn't be sitting in a wheelchair. Kevin looked at the time, "Do you want to leave for class early or do you want to get there late?"

"We can leave now," Sam replied, logging off of the computer. He didn't like using elevators to begin with, but the one at school was the worst. You needed a key to use it, thankfully Kevin remembered which pocket of his backpack it was in, and it was so slow. Sam was pretty sure Kevin could haul him up the stairs in the same amount of time it took for the elevator to stop. They waited outside the math class until the bell rang and the class that was in there previously filed out.

They went to take their seats at the back of class and when Kevin was wheeling Sam into his spot, they noticed that the desk was too low. "I'm sure we can find a way to raise it a little," Kevin assured him.

"It's fine," Sam responded. "I don't really need a desk right now anyway, I can't write," he motioned to his broken wrist. When the rest of the class came in, some said hi and smiled, some came up to him and asked how he was doing, and others just tried to avoid eye contact altogether. The teacher came in and explained what they'd been doing in class so far and told him to raise his hand if he had any questions, but he'd already read over this stuff and gone through the practice questions that were in the textbook. He was _really _glad he'd worked ahead.

In chemistry, Dave moved seats so he could sit at the table next to Sam and Kevin. "Hey guys look, Dave decided to join the fairies!" Bryce laughed. "Now there are three of them. Well, two and a half." The other guys burst into laughter.

"Oh, shut up asshats," Dave retorted. "Can't you give it a rest for one day?"

"Give what a rest? We're just telling the truth. Sam deserved what he got. He's an abomination and God is punishing him for it," Bryce said matter-of-factly.

"Hey," Kevin growled, standing up. "Shut the fuck up. No one's being punished, it's called an accident for a reason. Sam is ten times the man that you'll ever be. If you say one more negative or hateful thing towards him, you will be very sorry."

"Really? What are you gonna do about it princess?" Bryce taunted.

"Bryce!" the normally quiet Mr. Stoesz snapped. "If I ever hear, or even hear _of, _you bullying Sam or Kevin again, you will get an hour of detention. If that still doesn't stop you, I will not hesitate to have you suspended." The class went silent and watched the colour drain out of Bryce's face. He quickly took his seat and hid his face in his arms. The teacher came to their table, "Seriously, if he bullies you again, tell me. Even if it's not in my class." Kevin and Sam both nodded and Mr. Stoesz went to the front of the class to teach.

When Kevin and Sam got home, they were both exhausted. "Would you mind helping me into bed so I can take a nap?" Sam yawned.

"Definitely. Do you want to get changed?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, I'll just wear my pyjamas for the rest of the day," Sam mumbled. Kevin helped him change and get into bed. "Can you wake me up for supper?"

"Of course," Kevin said as he walked towards the door, "have a good nap." He turned off the lights and left Sam to sleep.

Sam knew he probably wouldn't fall asleep for a while, but he just needed to be alone. He was tired of having people around him all the time. He heard the door creak open a little bit and turned his head to see Moo creeping towards him. The cat jumped on the bed and rubbed herself against Sam's shoulder and settling into the crook of his neck. Sam smiled when she started to lick his hair, grooming him.

It didn't take long before Kevin was waking Sam up. "We're having spaghetti and meatballs for supper," Kevin told Sam while he helped him into his chair. Sam was checking his phone while Kevin wheeled him towards the kitchen.

"Why did you put a picture of me sleeping on instagram?" Sam asked. "And when did you take it?"

"I went in to check if Moo was there and it was just so cute I couldn't resist," Kevin answered. "You know, I'm starting to get jealous of your relationship with my cat," he laughed.

"You should be, I think she loves me more than you," Sam joked. "It's really nice having her there. I've always wanted a pet, I just never thought it would be a cat."

The weeks went by with the same routine. Sam was tired of having a cast and tired of wearing a sling, so he was excited when the doctor told him he didn't have to wear it anymore. He felt so free without his cast. He knew that he'd have to work on strengthening it before he could wheel himself around properly, but now he was one step closer to being relatively independent.

/

Sam and Kevin were watching TV together when there was a sharp knock at the door. Kevin got up to get it and when he came back to the living room, Dean was right behind him. "Hey, Sammy," Dean grinned. "Did you miss me?"

"Dean, hey! What are you doing here?" Sam asked as Dean gave him a hug. "I thought you were in California with Dad."

"Yeah, Dad found a case that was on the east coast that he wanted to work "alone," so I figured I'd come visit you until he wants my help again. How are you feeling? Healing up nicely?" Dean replied.

"Well, some days are better than others," Sam answered. "I got my cast off and I don't have to wear my sling as much, so I've been doing a lot of physical therapy so that Kevin won't always have to push me everywhere. Unfortunately, my legs haven't improved at all."

They spent the evening catching up, which mostly meant listening to Dean tell stories about the various hunts he'd been on with their dad. Sam was always impressed with Dean's storytelling. It was something Sam had a tendency to forget about his brother. Dean could make you feel like you were living in the story, it made Sam wonder if Dean would have been some kind of storyteller had they not been raised hunters, or if hunting helped him.

Dean was there for two weeks before John needed his help on a hunt. Sam didn't want him to go, he had gotten used to seeing his brother every day. When Dean was there, Sam didn't feel so hopeless. He felt like things would actually end up okay. He loved Kevin and was thankful for everything he and Linda had done for him, but he needed his brother. Of course, he'd never tell Dean, but he wished that Dean would just tell their dad that he was done hunting. Sam knew that wouldn't happen, Dean liked hunting too much. He was good at it. Sam blinked back tears when Dean left, he didn't want to let everyone see him crying. He was stronger than that.

After everyone had gone to bed, Sam finally let himself cry. He was so frustrated with everything. It had been over two months since the accident and nothing had gotten easier. He wiped his eyes when there was a soft knock at the door. "Sam? Are you okay?" Kevin asked gently, sitting on the edge of Sam's bed.

"No," Sam mumbled. "No, I'm not."

"Do you want to talk about it? You can tell me anything," Kevin prodded. He knew that Sam was hurting, but he always wanted to seem strong, so he usually just held it in.

"I wish the semi had just killed me instead," Sam murmured, his back towards Kevin. "It would have been easier. I hate being in this chair. I hate being a burden. I hate that you always have to take care of me. If I'd died, you could have gone back to your normal life and everything would be okay. I messed everything up."

"Sam, I promise you, it would not have been easier if you'd died," Kevin cooed, putting his hand on Sam's shoulder. "You aren't a burden. I'm really sorry that you're in a wheelchair, I wish it was me instead. If you had died, there's no way I could go back to my "normal life" because you wouldn't be in it. None of this is your fault."

"It feels like it is… I'm trying to be positive and strong, but I don't think I am. I can't take this anymore. I can't do it. I'm so tired of everything," Sam sighed.

"You don't need to be positive and strong all the time. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated. You don't have to hide your emotions," Kevin told him. "I can't imagine how difficult this all is for you, especially without your brother, but I will always be here for you. You're going to do great things, I know it. You can do whatever you set your mind to. This is just a bump in the road."

Sam turned to face Kevin. "Can you stay here with me?" He asked with tear-filled eyes. "I really don't want to be alone."

"Of course," Kevin replied. He lay down and snuggled close to Sam's chest, peppering light kisses on his bare skin. Sam smiled and wrapped his arms around Kevin. "You'll get through this, Sam. I love you."

"I love you, too," Sam responded, kissing the top of the smaller boy's head. It didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep, both comforted by the other's presence.

When Sam woke up the next morning, Kevin was gone. He grabbed his phone to check the time and was surprised at how long he'd slept. He always slept in a little bit on Saturdays, but it was already almost noon. "Oh, hey, you're up," Kevin exclaimed when he walked into the room. "I decided you deserved a little extra sleep today," he smiled, giving Sam a peck on the lips. "I have a surprise for you."

"Really? What is it?" Sam asked as Kevin helped him into his chair.

"It's called a surprise for a reason, silly," Kevin laughed and wheeled him into the living room. "I'm just going to go get it." He left the room and when he came back he was holding a tiny grey kitten. "A few weeks back, you mentioned that you wanted a grey kitten, and when I saw that someone was giving this one away, I knew I had to get it for you. Don't worry, I asked my mom about it first," Kevin said, putting the kitten on Sam's lap. "It's a boy, just so you know."

"Does he already have a name?" The kitten couldn't be more than 10 weeks old. He had soft, pale grey fur and clear blue eyes.

"No, you get to name him," Kevin told him excitedly.

"Okay… uhm, well, what do you think he looks like? What name would suit him?" They spent a long time trying to figure out a name that would suit the kitten. Sam didn't want to name him Storm or any other name that would be incredibly cliché for a grey cat. Kevin suggested some names from the movies and TV shows he liked, but Sam didn't think that any of them would work.

"What about Rory?" Kevin suggested. "Like from Doctor Who!"

Sam held up the kitten and looked at him. "I like it," Sam grinned. "Rory, it's cute." Sam put Rory back down on his lap and laughed when the kitty climbed up his shirt and sat on his shoulder. He could feel the cat breathing in his ear and hear tiny little purring noises coming from him.

Rory sat on Sam's shoulder for almost the entire day. Whenever Sam would put him down, the kitten would just jump back onto his lap and climb up onto his shoulder. He liked playing with Sam's hair and ended up biting Sam's ear more than once, but Sam didn't complain.

Kevin smiled every time he saw Sam with the kitten. He looked so happy. Kevin knew that having a cat wouldn't fix the way Sam was feeling, but at least it was a distraction. He spent most of the day just watching Sam, laughing when the cat would attack Sam's hair. Eventually, Rory fell asleep on Sam's shoulder, and Kevin couldn't help but take a picture of it. When Kevin went to check on Sam that night, Rory was sleeping on the pillow right next to Sam's face. This kitten would be good for Sam, he just knew it.


End file.
